The Trial of the Doctor
by IAmTheDoctor10
Summary: The Doctor is kidnapped while within the safety of the TARDIS by a mysterious entity who seems to hold some sort of grudge against the Doctor in regards to his past. However, the Doctor isn't the only one of himself that has been taken, a few of his past selves have been taken from their time streams.
1. Prologue

The mysterious man whose face was hidden beneath a dark hood looked eagerly out into space as he rested his chin in the palm of his hand while his elbow was on the arm of his dark coloured chair which had a close semblance to a throne which had a bit of an over covering hood as if to provide some protection from what or whoever might dare to deal a blow from behind. 'Scan report' he demanded with clear spoken words which he had been repeatedly doing for the past half an hour _'scan is on-going, no unusual or unidentified objects or vessels detected within this area of space'_ a hollow-sounding and mechanical toned British male voice responded. He let out a sigh having heard the same thing multiple times now '...no sign of the target object?' he queried almost wearily _'current results for scan for target object remain negative'_ the voice responded again.  
Running a hand over his overshadowed features in weary impatience, the figure then rubbed his hand across his chin 'he's out there somewhere, he must be…extend scan further again' he said. Several seconds later the voice responded _'rate and limit of scan extended by a further 10%'_ as it had done the last few times in the last half hour. Looking out in space again through one of the multiple massive glass windows, he attentively ran his gaze over every inch of space in his field of vision 'soon…I'll find you, soon enough'.  
At least another few minutes passed before the voice spoke again _'alert, scan results have detected an unknown and foreign object vessel that likely matches the description of the target object'_ this brought the figure to attention 'bring up scan feed' he said. A holo-screen with a display of space as what could be seen out through the window materialised in front of him which he looked and stared at alert now 'relay description of object from scan results' _'object is box-like in shape and appearance, is a dark shade of blue in color, features a flashing light on top…'_ it was the voice spoke that the figure was now thoroughly focused on the scan feed before him as the display zoomed in on the object floating through space as it spun slowly _'along with distinguishable words "Police Box" directly above what appear to be double doors'_ the voice said uninterrupted.  
The figure stood suddenly 'I have you now, at last' he said _'based on the description of the detected object it is likely the vessel known as the TARDIS belonging to the Time Lord "the Doctor", the TARDIS and the Doctor has been detected'_ said the voice, though the figure was barely paying attention. 'Of course it's the Doctor, the one and only with a TARDIS capsule stuck in the visage of a 20th century police box from Earth…send out the drones, they must make sure that the Doctor enters this area of space' he said _'active drone parameters accepted, dispatching drones now'_ said the voice.  
Another several seconds later a group of drones could be seen whizzing through space far beyond the window _'drones dispatched'_ the voice confirmed. The figure sat back in his seat with both arms resting on either side of his seat as he watched the impending action with interest 'it begins' he said…


	2. Chapt 1: The Chase

In the deepest depths of space all was quiet and peaceful, not a planet or a star nor even a space vessel, except for the twinkling of stars in the far off distant depths of space throughout the massive and seemingly endless universe. That is until…a blue 1960's style police box raced through space with what looked to be drones not far behind it on its tail.  
Inside the blue box in the control room grasping onto the rim of the control panel as much as he could while at the controls that controlled the ships flight and its systems was the Doctor with his short greying hair, his slightly lined and creased face and dressed in his dark blue Crombie coat, his white button up dress shirt done up to the neck under his waistcoat and dark skinny pants and black shoes.  
The control panel was sparking and hollow creaking sounds echoed through the TARDIS, like a vessel at sea, as flight systems were strained and put under pressure and the Doctor was dashing around the console trying to keep the TARDIS flying as smoothly as possible as he tried to outrun the drones that were chasing him and the TARDIS 'come on is that all you lot have got? You think you can catch me?' the Doctor said in his Scottish accent.  
One thing the Doctor had noticed as he monitored the drones and how close they were to potentially catching him was that the drones were flying in a bit of peculiar way 'what are you lot up to? It's like you're trying to sheepdog me somewhere' the Doctor said as he squinted curiously at the feed on the scanner screen of the drones that chased him.  
The Doctor had attempted multiple times now to evade and lose the drones to escape them, but each time he had done so they had manoeuvred and flown in such a way as to cut him off, however they had also had ample time and opportunity to catch him and do whatever it was they intended to do as well, not that there was much they could do if anything.

*

After a few more minutes of frantic flying the drones disappeared from the TARDIS's sensors, and thus from the scanner screen, which the Doctor checked and performed a quick flash scan to check that the drones were really gone while the console emitted some last few sparks before he then adjusted the controls and other systems to slow the TARDIS's flight a bit which stopped the control panel from sparking and caused the creaking sounds to stop. He then went to the double doors, opened them and looked out into space and looked all around before closing them behind him and went back to the console and put the TARDIS into stealth mode before he began to program coordinates into the navigation system as he didn't want to be taken by surprise again while he prepared the TARDIS to dematerialise and go someplace and sometime else.  
However there was still something out there with its eye on the blue box that was the TARDIS, hiding in the shadows that was big, **massive** even. Even though the TARDIS was in stealth mode it began to move and close in on the blue box, closer and closer it got while the TARDIS's sensory systems were oblivious to it. That was when it began to make its move which while it did so the TARDIS was able to to detect an anomaly out in the endless space beyond.  
Back inside the TARDIS the Doctor was nearing having the ship ready to dematerialise and take off, but then an alert sounded on the console and the Doctor went to the scanner screen and saw the words "Alert: Spatial Anomaly Detected". The Doctor switched to live feed and what he saw made his eyes widen which they seemed to be quite good at doing 'oh no, that can't be good' he said as he watched, on the screen, as a massive porthole-like opening revealed itself on the large dark looking spherical and almost planet sized vessel that the Doctor was looking at on the screen.  
Rushing to the double doors and opening them again the Doctor looked out at the huge vessel looming before him and looked on wide-eyed as he watched the opening get brighter and brighter as if whatever the vessel was doing it was priming something that was most likely aimed right at him and the TARDIS 'oh no you don't' he said. Closing the doors again he rushed back to the console and flicked the lever down to dematerialise but instead of dematerialising the TARDIS made a troubled and stuttered engine sound which then spluttered and died with the same hollow *thud*. That was when the TARDIS lurched causing the Doctor to stumble back onto the railing.  
The TARDIS tumbled and fell through space as the huge looming vessel suddenly emitted a widespread arcing vacuum field. Inside, the Doctor tried to stable the TARDIS and break free of whatever was pulling the TARDIS towards the sphere, planet-like vessel. Upon having little to no success the Doctor tried once again to have the TARDIS dematerialise, but again the TARDIS made the stuttered and troubled whining grinding sound that was typical of the engines, though just without the stuttered and pained rhythm of it.  
On the outside the TARDIS, while caught in the vacuum field, appeared to fade in and out of physical manifestation as it tried to repeatedly dematerialise. But even that wasn't working. Whoever or whatever was trying to kidnap the TARDIS with the Doctor inside, and was so far succeeding in doing, had the TARDIS right where they wanted it so that it couldn't break free and fly away and was interfering with the TARDIS to the point where it couldn't dematerialise either. While the Doctor was doing his best and everything he could to try and get free of the vacuum field and escape its pull the control panel was sparking violently and the ship was shaking and lurching in the same fashion. It didn't much longer for the Doctor to realise that any continued effort and attempt to regain control of the TARDIS and break free from whoever was trying to snatch him and the TARDIS was futile and so he resigned to just holding onto the control panel as much as he could until the heavy turbulence stopped.  
Outside, the TARDIS spiralled towards the bright and almost blinding opening in the massive and shadowy vessel and in less than half a minute disappeared into it and was swallowed up by the bright light emanating from the opening, the TARDIS barely a pinprick dot as it was. Inside the TARDIS the Doctor looked around the control room and slowly let go of the control panel. Whatever it was that had snatched him hadn't destroyed the TARDIS, not yet anyway. The Doctor thought to go to the double doors to see where he and the TARDIS had ended up, but then that was when someone or something knocked on the doors. As the Doctor slowly stepped towards the doors he heard the knocking again and when he got to the doors and slowly opened them he was confronted by an extremely bright white light…


	3. Chapt 2: Meyamoto 12

Rose stood outside the TARDIS while she waited for the Doctor. They had parked, or really the Doctor had parked the TARDIS in the streets of a city that stretched for thousands upon thousands of miles in a looped circle in a sport stadium-like style in a space station. The looped circle of a city looked up at the starry space vista of a swirling nebula in the area of space which the huge, massive space station occupied.  
The Ninth Doctor emerged from the TARDIS and Rose pushed herself off from leaning on one of the double doors of the TARDIS 'about time, I was beginning to think I'd have to go on without you' she said, the Doctor looked at her as he stepped out 'what, and get lost in the maze of these streets? It's a big city out there, could easily get lost with how intertwined and interconnected these streets are'. Rose scoffed 'it doesn't look that big' she said as she took a few steps from the TARDIS with her arms crossed before turning on the spot to look back at the Doctor 'wait till you see this place from above then you won't be so confident' the Doctor said with a grin. Rose just looked at the Doctor for a second before she said 'go on then, show me' the Doctor stepped towards her as he said 'once we've explored this place a bit and I've shown you around then I will'.  
Rose then looked up at the space vista through the big wide opening in the space station 'I can't get over how beautiful that looks up there, waking up to that every morning would be priceless' she said, the Doctor grinned a bit as he said 'isn't it just, the problem is this place is almost so overcrowded that that wouldn't be possible, so that dream is a bit far gone I'm afraid, that and, despite the view, this place may not exactly be yours or anyone's choice of residence, it's not exactly the most lovely place to live, it's a bit like a red rose with a thorny stem in ways this place' the Doctor explained as he lost his grin.  
Rose looked at him 'what do you mean?' she asked, the Doctor looked back at her after he had been looking on and taking in the immediate cityscape with all its intergalactic races of various species either loitering or going about their day, hovering cabs, vehicles, crafts and vessels in the busy sky above them 'poverty, slums, people who are in lesser situations, less privileged and worse off than others and most' he said. The Doctor acknowledged the look on Rose's face 'every place has it, it's inevitable in places like this where there's life and civilisation' he said, 'well why doesn't the system or whatever government this place has try to do something about it' Rose questioned.  
The Doctor gave her a firm look 'and how would they do so in a place like this, of the scope and size of this place, they could do and they're probably trying, but then where do they start there's probably only so much they can do with what limited resources they have' he said. Rose just maintained her look of concerned questioning 'well they can still try can't they?' she questioned further before the Doctor changed the subject 'maybe, anyway enough about that, we've got a city to explore before I show you just how massive this place is' he said before he continued on while Rose just stood where she was to consider for a moment what he had just said. The Doctor continued around a corner as he looked up at the view of the space vista above the huge city they were in _I forgot just much I liked that view_ he thought. Then, next thing he knew, as he thought to wait for Rose to catch up, just like that his vision or everything around him went white, almost blindingly so…

The TARDIS made the usual hollow *thud* as the Tenth Doctor and Donna gripped the control panel while the TARDIS landed 'right come on' the Doctor said as went to the double doors, grabbing his long coat along the way and putting it on over his blue suit. The Doctor was just about to leave through the double doors, with Donna close behind, when he remembered something and stopped 'oh that's right, I just about forgot about that' he said out loud to himself, Donna just looked at him expectantly waiting for him to continue and explain why he had stopped 'you go on ahead I'm just going to quickly check the flight systems, there was something not quite right with the TARDIS earlier' said the Doctor.  
Donna went to the double doors of the TARDIS while the Doctor went to the scanner and started flicking switches, turning dials and all manner of buttons as he did…whatever the heck it was he was doing to check the TARDIS and its functions 'all right then but don't be long space man'. Stepping out through the double doors Donna stood with her back against the TARDIS to lean back on it while she waited for the Doctor.  
At least a minute later the Doctor emerged through the double doors and ushered Donna along for them to go 'what was wrong?' she asked as the Doctor followed just a step behind her 'oh nothing major, just the time engines weren't synchronising properly' the Doctor replied, this made Donna look at him questionably 'you say that yet it sounds exactly so, kind of' she said 'could the TARDIS have blown up on us?'. The Doctor shook his head a bit for a second before he responded '…no…travel..just wouldn't have been as smooth' he said, Donna maintained her questioning look 'right 'cause that's really reassuring' she said in response to the Doctor's words. When he didn't say anything to her response it made her wonder a bit _ha that's a change usually he always has something to say back to get the last word in_ Donna thought 'wow cat your tongue did it?' Donna said as she kept going, when the Doctor still didn't say anything that was when Donna noticed the subtle absence of the Doctor's footfalls. This made her turn…  
To find the Doctor gone! Nowhere to be seen, not even running back to the TARDIS as if he'd forgotten something else or the double doors closing behind him or running down the road for or to something. Vanished, without a trace. Donna's mind began to race and she looked around frantically in every direction 'Doctor?' she said out loud to no one in particular 'Doctor?!' she said more loudly when she still couldn't see or spot the Doctor anywhere and not caring if she was getting any looks or glances her way.  
Donna looked back at the TARDIS _could he have gone back inside?_ She wondered, running back to the TARDIS she inserted the key the Doctor had given her some time ago into the lock and went through its doors. When she didn't find the Doctor inside her mind continued to race _where the hell could he have gone?_ She wondered again 'DOCTOR!?' she said out loud again…


	4. Chapt 3: Have I Been Here Before?

The Eleventh Doctor sat in a comfortable chair with his booted feet resting on a foot rest with his hands on the back of his head in a luxury state-of-the-art café on the planet Tellamane, all the while Amy and Rory stood at a conveyor belt which carried all sorts of café food along its length which sat on electronic plinths which projected a special and physically penetrable barrier around each dish or morsel of food that kept them and the space around the food contained within the barrier in stasis. This effectively housed and protected them from any external contaminants so that they remained fresh no matter how much time passed before they were consumed.  
'What about that one' Rory said as he pointed at a rather glossy and delicious looking slice of cake 'no didn't you listen before? The Doctor said not to touch that one unless you want to be making regular trips to the men's room' said Amy, Rory just looked longingly it as he said 'yeah…he did, but it looks so good though'. Amy too looked at the slice of cake and agreed 'yeah it does, but there's lot of other food here as well, how about this, sushi' she said as she pointed at a plate of sushi 'sushi is always good'. Now it was Rory's turn to do the discouraging 'didn't the Doctor say that would give the bowels a hard time?' he said, Amy looked back at the plate of sushi and said 'oh yeah he did' before she grimaced and kept looking for something they could eat.  
'I hope you two aren't going to be too much longer over there you just have to get the one's that won't cause you any problems, I'll have to watch your drinks while you're still deciding half a century later and that would be boring' the Doctor said as he continued to sit comfortably in his chair with his back to Amy and Rory. Amy looked back at the Doctor and said 'oh shush, why don't you come over here and help us decide then, you did mention quite a bit of things we should avoid and we can't exactly remember all that you mentioned', Rory also looked back at the Doctor and joined in 'yeah, isn't there anything here we can eat that we don't need to avoid? He said. The Doctor sighed and got to his feet 'alright I'll show you again' he said a bit impatiently as if being made to leave the comfortable chair he had been sitting in was an inconvenience.  
About a minute later Amy and Rory finally re-joined the Doctor at their table, and not long before their beverages arrived as well 'ah I've always loved and enjoyed Krakatonian floats…actually no I haven't only since I last changed have I liked them, their bittersweet and spicy yet leave you wanting more, kind of like sour candy sour at first then sweet and so "mmm"' the Doctor said with a smile. Amy kicked the Doctor lightly in the foot 'yeah alright why don't you and it get a room yeah' she said, the Doctor looked over the table for a moment then stopped short 'what is something wrong with the table now' Amy asked as she looked at him 'is it one of those fake one's that will transform into a table and try to eat us?' she teased.  
The Doctor looked at her questionably 'no that's just silly, why would it be that, and do that' he responded, Amy grinned a bit 'well with all the stuff and things we've seen and what you've shown us and where you've taken us you can't blame us for being open minded' she said. 'I'm looking for my straw, my special straw, the one makes a drink more flavoursome, or fizzy, Amy did you find it and bring it with you like I requested?' said the Doctor 'I couldn't find it, it wasn't where you said it was and you'd left the TARDIS before I could tell you, and I never got the chance to tell you considering how much you kept going on about how much me and Rory would like it here' Amy replied.  
The Doctor straightened in sudden thought 'oh, oh right yes I remember where I put it now, alright I won't be a few minutes' he said as he got out his chair again to go back to the TARDIS 'don't get too ahead of me' the Doctor said as he went off.  
Leaving the café, the Doctor rounded a corner from where the café was and went to an off-to-the-side lounge out of the way from the main foot traffic in the huge intergalactic mall where the blue police box sat waiting. However, the Doctor never got to the double doors as about several feet from it he shimmered a bit before vanishing with a quick, silent whoosh…

The Twelfth Doctor opened his eyes to see…grass, he abruptly rolled over so that sat upright. He was in a field with lots and lots of long grass all around, well not all around, it all seemed to stop at a tree line in the near distance which surrounded the grassy area, with the odd bush here and there, where the Doctor now found himself. Turning 180 degree's so that he was now facing a big circular lake with an island in the middle of it that had a streaming pillar of blue energy flowing out of an opening in the ground up into the sky with four thick steel arms coming out of it at 90 degree angles which curved and arced until the tip of each arm pointed straight up to the sky, if it was a sky…it didn't really quite look real or natural though.  
That wasn't the only thing that bothered the Doctor though, something about the place and the island in the middle of it with it's curved, arcing metal arms and pillar stream of blue energy gave the Doctor a strong sense of Déjà vu, he recognised and knew this place…he'd been here before. Despite how much the Doctor tried to rake his memory and consider how and why the lake and the pillar of energy was so damn familiar he just couldn't quite put his finger on it, like something waving ever so frantically at him JUST beyond the fringe and reach of his recognition.  
Looking around the perimeter of the lake the Doctor recognised, or thought he recognised, areas along the lake perimeter where trees or bush weren't very thick or in large numbers, the other side of the lake directly ahead of him and the areas of lake shore on the left and right sides of where he was now…somehow he could vividly remember standing at those places along the lake shore back in earlier days…earlier lives. The Doctor also then remembered that he had met himself back when he dressed a bit like a hard detective/bodyguard with the black leather jacket he had worn, oh back in those days the idea of giving off the hard image had appealed to him…for some reason. The Doctor eyed up the side of the lake shore that was to the left of his point for a moment in recollective thought before he turned on and stepped away from his area of the lake shore and headed, through all the long grass, to the open parting in the treeline that seemed to lead further into the forest, in the hopes that it was right direction he was meant to be heading. It must be though otherwise he wouldn't remember having met himself, and it's not like there was any other way or route to where he was heading and intending to go.


	5. Chapt 4: Taken by the TARDIS

In a big, dark and dimly lit room somewhere in a…whoever knew where, visible only because of a light directly above it stood the blue box that was the TARDIS, the Doctor's TARDIS, sealed and cordoned off by a blue transparent force field. How long it had been standing there was anyone's guess. Inside, the console was empty and quiet save for the regular and repeated idle hum of the TARDIS and its systems. Nothing to disturb the quiet emptiness that was the Doctor's absence. That is except for two flashing back and forth notifications on the scanner screen which read "Emergency: Designated Pilot Missing" and "Emergency Protocols Activated". Just then the hand brake lever went down on the console and the TARDIS began to dematerialise…

 _Shoreditch, London, 2015…_

All through Clara's apartment a wheezing, groaning sound could be heard as the blue box appeared transparently in the room opposite Clara's room continuing it's *vworp vworp* before it made the *thud* as it became solid. It was 7.30am and Clara had been getting ready for another day of students at Coal Hill School when the TARDIS had landed in her apartment causing to stop what she was doing and peek through into the room opposite hers from her room. Immediately assuming it was the Doctor Clara went to the room in her apartment where the TARDIS had landed and went inside, however, to her surprise the Doctor wasn't in the control room waiting for her like he usually was.  
'Doctor?' Clara said to the silence in the empty space in the control room as if the Doctor might be under the floor under the console or down one of the passage ways leading from the control room, but he didn't appear or emerge from anywhere nor did she get a response 'Doctor?!' she said out loud again, but still Clara didn't get a response nor did the Doctor show up at her call. _Hmm ok, I definitely would've heard him come out of the TARDIS if he had done so and seen him…_ she thought, and so she decided to wait in the control room for a while in case the Doctor was busy elsewhere within the TARDIS and such to the point that he hadn't heard her.  
Five minutes she waited thinking the Doctor might be along any minute. It was almost getting along to ten minutes now and Clara had neither seen him nor heard any sign of him, the Doctor talking to himself as he considered an intriguing mystery or problem or pondered where to go next while he did whatever the heck it was he did when she wasn't there or even making some noise somewhere in the TARDIS. That was when she decided to go and look for him.  
As she wandered and made her way through the spaceship-like corridors and passage ways of the TARDIS Clara checked the Doctor's study, the swimming pool, the workshop, the wardrobe even the secondary control room and the engine room, but the Doctor was nowhere to be seen or found. Even when she went back to the control room the Doctor was still absent without a trace _where the hell are you?_ Clara thought as she took one last look around the control as she wondered without any real purpose or direction where the Doctor would or could be, it wasn't like him to just leave the TARDIS unattended like this nor show himself and greet her upon landing in her apartment.  
 _Ugh I don't have time for time for this to wait around for the Doctor to show himself, wherever he is_ Clara thought. That was when she left the TARDIS to get on with her day and head off. However, when she went to the double doors, which she had left open when she entered the TARDIS, they closed on her before she could leave through them and refused to open even when she tried to get them to do so 'what? No! What are you doing? Let me out! Let me out right now I have to go!' Clara said to no one and nothing in particular, except for maybe the TARDIS. With the TARDIS refusing to let her out Clara turned back to the console and went to scanner screen and the controls below it. That was when she saw what was on the screen "Emergency Assistance Acquired" which then immediately changed to "Emergency Protocols Active" both of which had red ringed exclamation marks on either side of them. Then, *thud* followed by the same wheezing groaning of the time engine as the TARDIS took off and dematerialised 'no what are you doing?! No, no, no, no, no I've got to get to work, stop!' Clara said as the TARDIS went to wherever it was going with her unwillingly along for the ride…

The Ninth Doctor opened his blue eyes to see blue sky above before he sat up, took in his surroundings immediately in front of him and where he was, a wide field of dry-looking long grass that stretched off down a slope into the distance with a forest of pine trees on one side, the Doctor's left, and another forest of trees on the other side that were completely bare and looked like the forest of Fangorn from the second Lord of the Rings film. _fantastic film that one_ the Doctor thought as he looked at the forest and thought of the film. Off in the distance there was what looked to be a labyrinth with a sizeable fortress in the middle of it and some hills behind it. He then looked back behind him and saw a lake through the long grass.  
Getting to his feet, and brushing off clingy strands of grass, the Doctor took a good look around where he was and the general surrounding landscape and immediate area he said out loud 'ok, this is different, this place I don't know' before he turned back to the lake and saw a pillar of energy streaming straight up into the sky through a small wad of clouds with four curved and arcing steel arms on the ground surrounding the stream of energy at 90o intervals. The Doctor's sense of location and bearing was, for once, well and truly off 'yep, for once I honestly, really have no idea where I am whatsoever' he then looked around as if searching for something in particular 'alright, three things, how did I get here? Where is here? And where is Rose' he said out loud to himself as he looked around for any sort of trace or sight of her.  
Both his hearts skipped beats knowing that she would be on her own in a big hude pace that she didn't know and didn't really know how to handle herself in, he had been with Rose on the space station, Helicarnassus 7, and been about to show her the sights when everything had, just like that, gone white…and then next thing he knew he was here. Wherever here was. Worry and dread began to well and swell inside the Doctor like a deadly and extremely aggressive tumour and made him feel a bit sick inside as it ate at him _I've got to get back to her…_ he thought almost desperately before he pulled himself and his thoughts together _but first I've got to find my way back to the TARDIS.._. Looking up, the Doctor looked at the sky and noted that it was exactly like earth's, blue sky and slightly overcast but still enough sun for it to be a reasonably nice day. Except, there was something not quite right about the sky, it didn't look "natural". There was something about it that just made it look fake. Turning back to the wide field of long, dry grass below the Doctor looked to the labyrinth with the fortress in the middle and said out loud to himself 'ok, looks like that's where I'm heading' _and with luck I might find someone who can tell me where I am_ , _and then maybe from there I can find a way back to Rose, maybe call the TARDIS to my location...wherever I am_ he thought and started towards the Labyrinth.


	6. Chapt 5: Deja Vu

Donna stood in the TARDIS as she considered what to do. After she had re-entered the TARDIS moments after the Doctor had just vanished into thin air behind her without a trace…not even a giveaway "whoosh" or any sort of sound or indication, Donna had gone inside the house where she lived with her mother and grandfather with a look like she was getting her head around having just seen a ghost, but with puzzled and wonder mixed in. Wilfred and Sylvia were home and so when she closed the door behind her and leaned back against it as she still wondered the heck could've happened to the Doctor she heard her name called 'Donna?' Wilfred said from somewhere in the house 'is that you?' he said even though he and Sylvia both knew it could only be her. This was clearly indicated by Sylvia's typical response to Donna's return 'well, look what the cat dragged in, and exactly where have you been this time young lady?' Sylvia said with the same mean and demeaning tone that she usually took with Donna as she poked her head round the corner from the kitchen.  
At first Donna smiled a bit at the voice of her grandfather, but then this very quickly sank and she rolled her eyes with a sigh at her mother's words 'hello to you too' Donna said with an annoyed sarcasm before going to find Wilfred to give him a hug. Since then Donna had, once again put up with the same annoying and irritating drone of Sylvia's lecture about what the heck Donna was doing with her life and how she should be trying to get herself a better job than the usual "temp" jobs that Donna took on again and again among everything thing else that Sylvia seemed to find testing about her '…I mean, where do you go? No phone call no note…worried sick, and I've got my own affairs and plans, do you even think about and consider that? I don't suppose you do do you…and don't just sit there…' but Donna hardly heard any of it as she continued to wonder about the Doctor and what could've happened to him and what she was supposed to do now. Donna had then decided to go back out to the TARDIS to figure out what to do about the Doctor's disappearance to get away from her mother's ranting.  
Now as she stood inside the TARDIS before the controls looking at them all she wondered _where the hell do I even begin?_ She thought as she began to wander aimlessly around the console looking for something, anything that she could do to have the TARDIS…do something to find the Doctor.  
Donna had always been content with standing back and watching the Doctor work the controls, which he did or seemed to do so fluently as if it was second nature, not even sparing a split second to consider which button, lever or switch to use, press or flick next as he piloted the TARDIS. She just figured that with how old the Doctor claimed to be, if he was really was more than 900 years old, that he was just more than content and used to flying the TARDIS having done so for centuries. All that time, all that experience. Sometimes Donna couldn't help but look at the Doctor in such a way that…well, that was just something about him that she just couldn't quite put her finger on no matter how hard she thought about it and considered, or even tried to get her around it. He looked so young, like such a young man on the outside, yet on the inside it was a completely different story altogether. On the inside he was such an ancient, old man, yet one with such youthful energy and life in him. It always made her wonder.  
Anyway, Donna thought that if she could get the scanner screen to respond then maybe, just maybe that might be somewhere to start. However, when she went to the scanner screen to start pressing buttons which she thought might be safe to press without causing the TARDIS to just take off somewhere to only-god-would-know-where or even to explode she found a flashing message on the screen that made her stop in her tracks. "Temporal Anomaly Detected" the message read, the words were flashing back and forth between red and yellow with red exclamation marks on either side of the worded message on the screen.  
Seconds later the message became "Emergency Assistance Acquired" followed by "Emergency Protocols Active", that was when the time engines made the typical hollow *thud* before the time rotors began to move up and down while time engines began to make their wheezing, groaning sound while at the same time the TARDIS began to shake and go a bit topsy turvy. This caused Donna to stumble back onto the railing that surrounded the control panel 'what are you doing?! I didn't press anything you stupid time machine! What are you doing now and where are you taking me?!' Donna yelled at the top of her voice as the TARDIS began a bumpy ride to…wherever the heck it was going. From then on it was taking and going to take all of Donna's effort to keep herself standing and remain that way as best she could and hold on…

A few seconds passed as the Tenth Doctor lay on his back on short and dry grass with his long coat splayed out under him, which he had put on over his blue suit just after leaving the TARDIS with Donna, before he opened his eyes to see a bright blue almost cloudless sky miles above him. The Doctor darted his eyes around and moved his head around a bit as he realised he wasn't in Chiswick in London before he sat up slowly, groaning a bit as he did so, and looking around properly all around him and even behind as he acknowledged where he was. At the edge of a lake, which he had his back to, in a dry, grass field like on a farm 'oh…well this different' he said out loud to himself before he did a double take 'ok, where have I said that before' he said before he squinted his eyes while he looked around again.  
Getting to his feet the Doctor took another look around where he was, turning on the spot to look at the lake 'ok, this place seems vaguely familiar, where have I seen that lake before?' the Doctor thought. While the Doctor continued to look at the lake with a familiar niggle he thought _no seriously, I feel like I'm getting Déjà vu, I'm sure I've been here before_ that was when a short chain of memories passed through his mind of when he met himself, a future self, before he had become the man he was today, back when he had the bodyguard look of black leather jacket and pants and close cropped hair.  
Interestingly the Doctor found himself thinking _I'm surprised I can remember being here in my previous life, considering…_ considering he didn't really remember meeting himself as he was now, not that that mattered, but then strangely he couldn't really remember what his future self had looked like either. _I guess…_ the Doctor began to think _just…see if I can find someone who can tell me where I am, and maybe from there find a way back to the TARDIS, unless I can call it here instead_ he thought before he proceeded across the field leaving the lake behind him.


	7. Chapt 6: I Know This Place

Rose stood where she was for a few seconds as she considered and processed what the Doctor had just said to her _seriously? What is it with futuristic and spacey places like this not being to manage and cater for and sustain a place for everyone to live in and enjoy? Is that really what humanity has to look forward to, living in a big space city that can barely sustain itself?_ She thought and wondered. That was when she came back to reality and realised the Doctor had gone ahead of her. She then hurried around the corner but then stopped short when she didn't see the Doctor ahead of her _eh?...where- but it's only been a few seconds…oh god I've lost him already…_ Rose thought.  
The trouble was that there were no side alleys that the Doctor could've stepped down, no doorways he could've gone into and entered through, or even hid behind just to play a silly joke on her for being a bit slow 'Doctor?!' Rose shouted, but she still didn't see any sign of him.  
Rose looked back the way she had come then back to the street ahead with the distant crowd of people going about their lives and business _I can't BELIEVE…he wouldn't just abandon me here or leave me alone like this…_ she began to think before she once again looked back the way she had come _well at least the TARDIS is still here, so he's bound to be back eventually, wherever the hell he's gone, he wouldn't just leave the TARDIS here as well_. In that moment Rose quickly went back around the corner and saw the TARDIS still standing where the Doctor had parked it to which she breathed a sigh of relief, which dispelled the irrational and almost panic inducing thought that the TARDIS too might have vanished like the DOCTOR had _good, thank god, no way am I going to walk around this place and get lost trying to find the Doctor_ she thought.  
So now there she was standing inside the TARDIS wondering what to do with herself until the Doctor returned. What she didn't know was that she wasn't going to have to wait long, as while she sat in the TARDIS wondering what to do to pass the time the handbrake lever, as if pulled by an invisible hand, person or some unseen force, went down and the TARDIS began to rock and shake throwing Rose against the console while she stood up to look at and review the controls.  
As Rose gripped the console tightly she said out loud 'what are you doing?! The Doctor's still out there! Where are we going?' what she didn't realise and see was that there were flashing words on the scanner screen "Emergency Protocols Active"…

The Eleventh Doctor abruptly sat up, and after looking around at where he was realised he was at the edge of a lake with a sizeable island in the middle of it, which in the middle of the island itself were four tall, arcing steel arms reaching up to the bright blue, almost cloudless sky as if in an almost feeble attempt to claw at it. That's what they looked like, claws like the Doctor's sonic screwdriver except with four instead of three.  
Coming from and being emitted from the very middle of the island was a streaming pillar of blue energy flowing right up and through some clouds in the sky to…well, wherever it was going to. Upon looking at the sky the Doctor thought he noticed something odd about it, like it had an unrealistic look to it…that was when the Doctor abruptly looked forwards again in the direction of the island. 'This place…' the Doctor began as his eyes repeatedly darted to each side 'why…do I recognise it? Seriously I feel like I know, or should know this place, like an annoyingly nagging feeling of Déjà vu that I've been here before' the Doctor continued, lightly slapping his face a bit as he said the last few words.  
He then paused in sudden thought and realization as he realised that his unexpectedly surprising familiarity with the place was because he had been here before in previous times, previous lives 'oh…oh right yes I get it now, well that explains that, as for the rest…well, we'll just have to a nosy look around…' the Doctor said as he shifted his gaze to the nearby treeline that surrounded the small clearing at the edge of the lake where he was…

Somewhere in a densely forested part quite some way from the lake side a big thick and burly steel door rose with a slight groan before stopping more than eight feet above the ground. What emerged through the open doorway a few seconds later, paw by paw, was a sizeable beast that had some cross-resemblance between a lion and a tiger, though more or less the former with its mane which wasn't as thick as that of a typical lion but it was enough to provide some resemblance.  
Sharp, pointed spikes protruded from each side of its somewhat large head, three on each side with sharp teeth and fangs. After the beast gradually stepped out into the light it was followed by one…two…three more of the same beast, each stopping right beside each other, four in a row sniffing the air, before the beast that had stepped out first gave a loud roar…  
While this happened, each of the four Doctors halted where they were each separately treading and looked up and around at as they heard the roar that, unknown to them, belonged to one of four beasts with a bloodthirsty intent. 'Oooookkkkk, that is quite loud yet quite far off…I'm going to need to keep my wits about me, something tells me I should' said each of the four Doctors out loud to themselves.


	8. Chapt 7: Ditched at the Space Mall

Amy and Rory were now anxiously looking all about the mall instead of just over their shoulders to the main entrance of the café they sat in where the Doctor had left through 10 minutes ago to go back to the TARDIS for his special straw. 'Ok seriously, what is taking him so long? Shouldn't he be back by now? It doesn't take that long to find a straw' Rory questioned as he and Amy sat at their table anxiously 'well, he is 1200 hundred years old he might be starting to go a bit funny in the head' said Amy. 'He might have forgotten or be confused about exactly where he put it, that his pockets are more "trans-dimensional" than we can imagine' making rabbit ears with her fingers as she said the word "trans-dimensional", 'you mean like he's going senile? Great, that makes for a reliable designated driver, especially when he takes us home again, or tries to' said Rory. Amy looked at him as she responded 'I did say "might" and I never said "senile"' in an almost mildly defensive tone, possibly in defence of the Doctor.  
After a few more minutes of anxiously keeping an eye out for the Doctor and sipping lightly at their beverages which they had been consciously doing so as to wait for the Doctor to get back Rory rose from his seat and stood 'you know what I'm not waiting anymore I'm going to go see what's taking him so long and maybe remind him how rude it is to leave your friends waiting for five hours, are you coming?' he said. Amy looked around the cafe for a second before she sighed a bit 'yeah I'm coming, I've almost finished my shake anyway' she responded as she too rose from her seat and followed behind Rory as they both went back to the TARDIS.  
Moments later Amy and Rory stood on the other side of the doors inside the TARDIS 'Doctor?' Amy called out, but when she didn't immediately hear a response from the Doctor she called out again 'hey Doctor, have you found your straw yet? We've been waiting forever'. Now Rory called out 'Doctor, are you here...still?' still no response though 'could he have gone elsewhere and forgotten to tell us?' Rory continued, 'no of course not he would've told us' said Amy. Rory turned to look at her 'you did say he might be going a bit funny in the mind, he is after all more than ten centuries old it's understandable if he'd be starting to lose his nut a bit' he commented to which Amy said back to him 'yeah well I wasn't being serious when I said that'. As they both looked over the console to see if the Doctor had left a note for them Rory saw something on the scanner screen 'uh ok, what does that mean?' he asked as pointed at the words on the screen "Temporal Anomaly Detected". Amy looked at what was on the screen 'I don't know, only the Doctor would' she said, Rory looked up at the time rotor, worry starting to creep onto his features 'is it something to do with the TARDIS?' he asked 'I don't think so' Amy replied. Both of them looked attentively over the console to see if the message on the screen was connected or related to anything in particular. When nothing caught their eye Amy began to turn on the spot 'come on, maybe he might be in his study' she said, 'in his study? Right, why would he be there?' said Rory, looking back at him Amy responded 'this the Doctor we're talking about' she said suggestively to which Rory got the point 'right true'.  
Just then as they began to leave the control room the handbrake lever on the console went down on its own which made them both immediately turn where they had just treaded 'what?- ' Amy began to say before the engines started up and began working away in their groaning mechanical wheeze *vworp vworp...* they went as the central column rose and fell. Both Amy and Rory grabbed and held onto the railing as the TARDIS began to shift and shake, once Rory saw what was on the scanner screen "Emergency Protocols Active", pointing at it again Rory said as loudly as he could above the sound of the engines 'what the heck does that mean!? What's going on?!' Amy just looked around the place as she too wondered what trouble they were about to find themselves in now.


	9. Chapt 8: Ambushed

The Ninth Doctor walked towards the labyrinth he had seen from the top of the slope by the lake 'seriously I've never known a place like this on this planet before, but then is this even Earth? It doesn't feel like it, this place just has the wrong feel to it-…' he said as he thought out loud as he stepped along before his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of crashing and trees being smashed aside. Looking to his right the Doctor saw a large lion-tiger like beast stop at the edge of the line of trees through which it had just charged it way through leaving splintered and fallen trees and stumps behind it. The Doctor just looked at it with an "oh, blimey" look 'well, I've never seen you before' he said. It didn't long for the beast to spot him and when it did it began to run at full speed towards him 'blimey time to run!' the Doctor said as he too burst into a run towards the entrance to the labyrinth. With each running step towards the labyrinth the Doctor could hear the beast closing in on him and with his two hearts pounding in his chest with adrenaline surging through him he put his hand into the internal pocket of his leather jacket, brought out his sonic screwdriver and pointed it at the double doors at the entrance to the labyrinth. The sonic screwdriver bleeped away as the Doctor soniced the double doors which then started to open. With the beast only metres behind him the Doctor focused every ounce of the burst of energy he had received when he first broke into a run to evade the beast, his legs moving and pumping as fast as he could get them to move. With only steps to go till he reached the only narrowly open doors that were still parting as they continued to open the Doctor prepared himself to ease through the small gap between the two doors. Upon reaching them the Doctor slid his body through the gap without stopping and immediately turned back to the doors with his sonic screwdriver in hand and soniced the doors shut as fast as they would close leaving the beast outside the labyrinth as it attempted to reach its paw through the gap between the double doors to reach the Doctor inside. He wasn't going to bet on the beast's strength. Though with the gap between the double doors closing the beast had no choice but to withdraw its paw before it would be crushed.  
Exhaling in relief and with his two hearts still pounding away and the adrenaline flowing the Doctor took up to a minute to regain himself before turning to find himself standing before a long and wide passageway with light grey walls on either side standing up to two feet higher than him in what was supposedly the labyrinth 'well I can't go back that way, only way is through this place now' he said. The Doctor began to make his way into the labyrinth, and seeing the small fortress in the not-so-distant distance AND remembering the sight of the place from before by the lake 'seriously, did they have make this place a maze?' he said out loud as he went along.  
Sometime later as he strode along through the passages of the maze that was the labyrinth he stopped short in his tracks as he rounded a corner. Ahead of him were long stakes...no, steel rods coming out of the walls on either side. The Doctor slowly stepped toward them, stopping just a couple of feet before them 'is this supposed to be one of the spike traps you get in some movies?' the Doctor said quietly to himself. He began to get into position to make his way through the steel rods when he heard a sparking sound and immediately drew back, and just in time as bolts of electricity snaked across the steel rods for a few seconds, seconds apart from each other, before they then began to hum as electricity streamed and coursed through them.  
Bringing out his sonic screwdriver from his internal jacket pocket the Doctor scanned the now-electrified steel rods to find out where the power source was coming from, turning to his right at the sonic screwdrivers indication to look at the wall. The Doctor then pointed his sonic screwdriver at the wall and soniced it in the shape of square to which a square glow in the wall appeared for a split second before fading, the resulting square panel then receded into the wall and slid away to the side to reveal an electronic circuit of the same shape and size. The Doctor put his hand into the wall to fiddle with and adjust the wires a bit before he soniced the circuit again and closed it off, the panel sliding back into place and sealing itself and rendering the wall exactly as it was before he tampered with it.  
It was while it did so that the humming of the electricity through the steel rods slowly died and ceased. Now the Doctor could proceed through them. The Doctor manoeuvred, stepped over and under every steel rod in the way, however when he got half way he heard something spark behind him and looked back. It was as he did so that bolts of electricity began to snake their way along the steel rods again starting from near the hidden circuit panel, with concerning and alarming speed! This caused the Doctor's hearts to skip beats as he began to scramble his way through the rest of the steel rods. He made the conscious mistake of looking back and kicked himself for doing so as it cost him precious seconds he needed to get clear of the rods. The electricity began to slowly catch up to him and was now only a few feet behind him.  
The Doctor was now going as fast as his limbs could possibly manage, even to the point where they were beginning to cramp, but that didn't matter, not if it meant he avoided a painful electrocution, and possibly death for the sake of a bit of muscle pain and strain. He wasn't prepared or ready to regenerate again...yet, not in this case anyway. As far as the Doctor was concerned he only ever chanced and risked and put himself in the line of fire, and potential regeneration, and stared death in the face when it was very, VERY, really, absolutely necessary for the sake of someone else or others. But not today, to do so would be just silly and pointless. Despite what he had been through, with the Last Great Time War...he still had a lot of life left in him yet and wasn't prepared to squander his remaining lives, unlike a former friend-turned nemesis of his he knew.  
The Doctor was just a few feet from the other side and being clear of the rods, the electricity electrifying the rods almost hot on tail to the point where he could clearly feel and smell the energy and taint of it in the air.  
The Doctor stumbled over the last rod and fell forwards hard, but considering what had almost happened by a hair it didn't matter and he just laughed with gratefulness, to still be alive 'blimey, that was close' he said before he picked himself up off the ground and proceeded onward. Rounding another corner the Doctor slowed his stride to a stop as he saw a wooden slated door several meters away ahead to which he then continued towards. The Doctor got within a few feet of the door before he stopped short when a grey haired elderly man in a dark blue coat lined with red with a waistcoat and white shirt buttoned up to the collar which was folded down neatly appeared from around the corner of an alternate pathway also leading to the door...


	10. Chapt 9: Doctor Doctor

_Simultaneously..._

The Twelfth Doctor hid behind a rock as the beast he had heard coming minutes ago sniffed the air and searched for him _I have to get out of here fast this thing has my scent_ the Doctor thought as he looked around for a way to slip sway unnoticed or something that give him the start of a plan to do so. Fortunately for him the area he was in outside the labyrinth he had come across before he had encountered the beast was dotted with rocks for him to sneak from one to the other and hide from the beast so that he could get to the double-door entrance to the maze. Peering around from where he hid behind the rock the Doctor saw the beast looking the other way as if continued to sniff the air and look this way and that for him. The beast could tell that the Doctor was near, but another thing in his favour was that the wind was blowing in the wrong direction, the beast could sniff the air all it wanted but it would only get faint whiffs of the Doctor's scent IF anything. Knowing he was going to need to carefully time his movements the Doctor kept a very close yet subtle eye on the beast and when it lifted its head to sniff the air again after looking round some more the Doctor made a quick dash to the nearest rock closest to the double door gate. However, his footsteps seemed to be loud enough for the beast to hear as the Doctor only JUST got behind the rock no less than a split second before the beast turned its head in his direction.  
Alert and more attentive now than before the beast stalked its way to the rocks where the Doctor was hiding and stopped as it eyes darted about and scanned the area for any sign or trace of him. After a few seconds it turned and kept searching in another direction. The Doctor breathed a bit of a sigh of relief 'this beast thing seems to have good hearing, that and it may just have some degree of intelligence' he said out loud to himself in verbal thought, the last part of what he said was what concerned him the most as it was probably going to make his plan to avoid it and get to the labyrinth somewhat difficult. He was going to have to lighten his footfalls somehow if he was going to successfully sneak past the beast without alerting it. Looking in the direction of the gate to the maze the Doctor noticed and realised the next rock on the way to the gate was closer and the gap between that one and the next with the gate not far from it was small.  
Looking back around the rock he hid behind the Doctor saw the beast with its back to him and sniffing the air again, taking that chance and opportunity he made a dash for the next rock, but did so with the lightest possible footfalls without slowing down which took some effort. Once he was behind the next rock the Doctor peered back again to see where the beast was at just as it turned to look in his general direction as if it MIGHT have just heard him despite his effort to tread as silently as possible. The Doctor gave the moment several seconds to pass while gauging the short distance to the last rock.  
Peering around again the beasts attention was elsewhere giving the Doctor another window of opportunity. He was just about make another dash when he noticed the beast look back his way again which made him quickly draw back. Listening attentively for a few seconds the Doctor heard no sounds of the beast coming his way, and so bracing himself for another look he saw the beast with its left flank towards him. If he moved now the position of the rocks he was dashing between would obscure him from view. Doing so with light footfalls the Doctor made it to the last rock where he stopped behind it. The double doors to the labyrinth were just ahead just one last dash and a quick sonic and he'd be on the other side and safe.  
Making one last check for the beast the Doctor couldn't see it anywhere, listening carefully for any sounds or movement and looking all around it was nowhere in sight. The Doctor wasn't about to let his guard down yet, the beast was of some intelligence so for all he knew it might well be stalking him while keeping out of view like he had been with it. Stepping away from the rock he quietly dashed to the double doors and began sonicing them open. Figuring he'd only have less than half a minute before the beast heard the sound of the doors opening and came long and saw him the Doctor focused his attention on sonicing the doors open while keeping a watch out for the beast. Of course he didn't have to wait long as when the double doors started opening they made a sound loud enough to be heard throughout the area which made the Doctor look back. When he did so both his hearts skipped beats when he saw the beast coming right for him no more than 15 seconds away and closing in fast.  
The Doctor frantically soniced the double doors while doing his best to keep his hand that he held his sonic screwdriver in steady. Much to his brief relief the double doors opened enough for him to ease through the narrow gap between them and emerge on the other side, but he didn't stop there he quickly turned back to the doors and soniced them shut as the beast tried to get its paw in to reach him but then quickly withdrew it when the gap between the double doors got too narrow. The Doctor took half a minute to recover from his narrow escape before straightening up and taking in the wide and long-ish passage way before him before he proceeded forward.  
At some point somewhere in the maze the Doctor rounded a corner and then stopped in his tracks as he looked down the long and slightly sandy stretch of path ahead of him. He had noticed the door meters ahead, but that wasn't only thing had picked up on. The Doctor stood where as he looked from one wall to the other 'ahhh yes, there's something here, hidden from plain sight yet ready and waiting to strike' he said quietly to himself 'how I do I know? Call it a niggling hunch, or a gut-feeling'.  
Reaching into his internal coat pocket, the Doctor brought out his sonic screwdriver and scanned the walls on either side ahead of him 'just as I thought' he said as he flipped his sonic screwdriver in the air, put it back in his internal pocket and began to step forward 'as soon as I cross a certain threshold along this path...' the Doctor began as he slowly edged his shoed foot forward. Seconds later, as fast as a blur, big rectangular blocks came out of the walls, one on either side directly in front of the Doctor, and thudded hard against each other which made his abruptly step back in shock even though he had been anticipating it or…expecting something, followed by another two about two hand lengths from the first two. The Doctor considered for a moment what had just happened before he edged his foot forward again, stopped, then forward once more. Sure enough as he expected the large blocks came out of the walls on either side and thudded against each other the last two a split second after the first two. Immediately putting his foot in the same spot as before the Doctor waited one...two...and a half seconds before the same big blocks came out of the walls in the same fashion.  
The Doctor stepped back and turned to consider for a while is next move. After fifteen seconds, during which he looked back down the path as he thought about and considered his move, he stepped back to the same spot he stood before the hidden threshold and readied himself. After a couple of seconds the Doctor quickly stamped his foot in the same exact spot as before but stayed where he was, but only for about a second before he, after the first of the big blocks made their move, dashed forwards and ran as fast as his feet could propel him forwards.  
After two and half seconds the first of the big blocks came out the walls again at a blurring speed before more quickly followed in their wake. The Doctor didn't stop as the whole trap system began to gain on him, in fact after running a few more meters his coat was in danger of getting caught as it trailed behind him while he ran for his life and halting him in his tracks. But then the Doctor skidded a bit to a halt and stopped, as did the trap system when the last few blocks thudded hard and loudly against each other before quickly receding back into the walls. The Doctor sighed a bit 'it's going to take more than that to take me down' he said before he continued on to the door. As the Doctor got within a few feet of the door he halted in his tracks again in surprise as a familiar man in black work pants and shoes, black leather jacket and a green t-shirt appeared from around the corner...

The Tenth Doctor cautiously strode his way through a forest when his sonic started bleeping 'oh hello what's this?' he said as he brought out his sonic screwdriver from his internal suit jacket pocket, when he looked at it his eyes widened in surprise 'ohhh I've never seen that before' he said. Rapidly turning back and forth on the spot the Doctor held up his sonic screwdriver to get a fix on the signal he was getting. When he did he took off from where he stood and ran in the direction of the signal _…strange that my sonic screwdriver would be getting a signal like that, whatever it is, in this place_ he thought as he went bounding over bushes and fallen logs and stumps. Finally he dashed his way through some thick tree leaves, still holding his sonic screwdriver, to find a young twenty-something man in a tweed jacket sporting a bow tie standing next to a mini control console with something familiar in his hand, a green-tipped sonic screwdriver, surprised familiarity beginning to cross the young man's face…

The Eleventh Doctor was striding along through a bushy forest when he stopped in his tracks and took a few steps back to look at something down a path to his left that went towards the lake's edge in the near-distance which had caught his eye 'oh that's looks interesting, what's that doing there?' the Doctor said out loud to himself. Stepping towards the object he had seen the Doctor stopped just a few feet from it and reiterated his question to no one in particular 'what are you doing here eh? What are you here for? Why here?' he said, bringing out his sonic screwdriver the Doctor scanned the small control panel and scanned the immediate environment around him with the energy signal fix his sonic screwdriver now had from having scanned the control panel 'oh whatever this thing controls its near, very near, close by, in fact I'm standing almost right beside it' he said. After turning this way and that the Doctor began to slow his on-the-spot turns as he slowly stepped around while scanning, after several more seconds he stopped as he pointed out at the lake surface 'something underwater, submerged' he said. Lowering his sonic screwdriver the Doctor then pointed it at the control panel and sonicced it _could be a trap, you can't be too careful_ he thought. What happened next took him a bit by surprise. Bit by bit what looked like a steel frame rose from out of the water, dripping as it did so as water flowed off it, and settled into place level with the lake shore where the Doctor was.  
Just about to put away his sonic screwdriver and step toward the bridge to stand directly before it, it was in that moment that a man in a blue suit, red trainers and long overcoat with sticky-uppy hair came bounding from between two bushy trees. The Doctor's hearts each skipped beats as he recognised the man now standing no more than several feet away also with an expression of surprise…


	11. Chapt 10: The Two Doctors

Both Doctors were equally surprised, Nine because he wasn't quite really expecting to bump into anyone here and Twelve was hardly expecting to bump into and meet one of his former incarnations, namely his Ninth self. Twelve just looked right at Nine with his "attacking eyes and eyebrows" in a look of surprise '...you' he said after about a couple of seconds, Nine didn't seem to acknowledge his delayed one word response 'Oh hello, I wasn't expecting to bump into anyone here, not really' said Nine. Twelve just kept looking at him, almost in a questioning way 'what are you doing here?' he asked.  
'Oh no reason really I'm just lost, I found this place by accident, I'm the Doctor by the way' said Nine. 'I know' said Twelve, this brought about a look of confusion and surprise on Nine's features.  
Twelve could tell by the look in Nine's eyes and the tone of his voice as well as his evident surprise and confusion that he hadn't understood the nature of his question and didn't recognise himself 'no, what are YOU doing here?' Twelve firmly reiterated, further confused and surprised by Twelve's repeated and emphasised question and unsure how exactly to answer Nine furrowed his brows 'uh, sorry I take it you know who I am, have we met before?' Nine queried.  
Twelve ceased his "attacking" look and replied 'we don't need to have' in an almost amused tone the hint of a grin barely crossing his features, again Twelve's response left Nine confused '...uh, ok then how do you know m- ' Nine questioned, stopping abruptly part way through his words and looking at Twelve more closely who stood where he was and waited patiently for his former self to realise.  
Nine stared at him for a couple more seconds before his eyes widened and he finally said 'oh blimey, look at the eyebrows on me it's like they mutated, I always knew my age would catch up to me on the outside at some point, but I see now' Nine said as his surprised look subsided. Twelve looked at his past self with a look that said "oh, really? You're going to say that?". Nine drew back a bit before he posed another question 'so, what regeneration are you at?'.  
Twelve immediately replied 'it's complicated, I'm the Twelfth in a way, but then I'm also the thirteenth…' he said, Nine then looked at him curiously 'really? How so? And blimey I became Scottish' he said. At Nine's words Twelve's face lit up 'yeah, it's great I can complain about things now' Twelve said with a big grin, Nine's look, however, had turned to that of scrutinisation 'it's no wonder I get so old looking' said Nine. Now Twelve's look changed, to that of...well, it spoke "oh come on, really?" 'oh really, you're going to do that? I've only just taken on a bit of character' Twelve said as he briefly rubbed his face down 'and to answer your question you kind of, sort of already know, and you'll figure out the rest at some point with your next face'. This then left both Doctors looking at each other almost expectantly, before Twelve then initiated further conversation with them both replying and answering immediately after one another.  
'So, you got past the rods then' said Twelve.  
'Yes I did, thanks for asking, you'd know considering you used to be me' said Nine.  
'Hence the tone of my words' Twelve said.  
'Don't suppose you know what's beyond that door?' Nine asked  
'Can't say I do, like you I got just reached this door' Twelve replied.  
'Well what are we doing still standing and talking then? On we go' Nine suggested.  
'Waiting for you to stop prattling on, and after you' Twelve responded.  
'Elders first' said Nine.  
'Oh but I insist' said Twelve. They both continued to hold each other's gaze for a few seconds before they simultaneously brought out their sonic screwdrivers, raised and pointed them at the door and soniced it which made it click open inwards. They both then put their sonic screwdrivers away before Twelve said 'come on then' Nine immediately responding 'let's do it' all the while still holding each other's gaze before they both turned to the door and went through it.  
Inside, their conversation didn't cease, 'so what are you doing here anyway?' Nine asked.  
'I could almost ask you the same thing' Twelve responded.  
'Yeah well I asked you first, and you understand why I'm asking' Nine said a mildly insistent way.  
'Yes I understand, and to answer your question, I found myself in this place, after the TARDIS was sucked into a giant planet-like vessel' Twelve responded, this made both Doctors stop and turn to each other, Nine because of what his future had just said and Twelve a couple of feet from his past self because he had stopped. 'A "planet-like vessel"?' Nine questioned 'that's how you came to be here?' he said.  
'Yes, why? How did you get here?' Twelve responded.  
'Well I was on the space station city Meyamoto 12 with Rose, but then there was a blinding white light and then I found myself here…wherever here is' Nine said as he looked around as he spoke the last few words. Twelve's features twitched a bit at the mention of Rose before he said 'well I'm beginning to think I know where, or what I should more or less say, here is' Nine began to look at him questioningly '…and?' he said. Twelve returned his look with that of a curious one 'have you noticed the peculiarity of the pillar of energy streaming into the sky, which doesn't seem to be a sky at all- ' Twelve said before Nine intercepted the rest of his words 'because it's not a sky' he began. 'That portion of the sky has an anomalous look to it which makes it subtly stand out, possibly because of a perception filter, which if the perceptive eye was to really look at it would notice that the stream of energy is actually going into a port- ' Nine said before Twelve concluded **** his words this time 'which is what you would find in a space station or vessel, which would suggest- '. Nine intercepted his own words again 'that we're not on Earth or any planet, we could well be on the very thing that intercepted your TARDIS and brought you here' he said, a slightly open mouthed grin crossed Twelve features 'now we're getting somewhere' said Twelve 'and we might just more than get somewhere if we see what this lever does' Nine said before he raised his sonic screwdriver at something over Twelve's shoulder behind him in the shadowy dark, probably the ceiling which then emitted a light to reveal exactly what Nine said would be.  
A lever.  
Nine stepped forwards to go to the lever, but not before Twelve being one step ahead of him went ahead first to it 'but then how do we know that this lever will do anything of benefit for us? It could cause the ceiling to come down on us' Nine said in a "think before action" way. Twelve didn't stop to pause and got into position to manipulate the lever 'it could, it might just be a trap, but we can only try which is better than inaction and wondering what it could do, it might just help' he responded, Twelve's face contorted a bit with effort as he proceeded to shift the lever which budged a bit, but then seemed to get stuck. Nine grinned a bit 'the centuries catching up on me are they?' he said as Twelve continued to heave and strain against the lever 'oh shut it you could be helping, after all…' Twelve said before he stood up panting a bit 'I am the eldest of us, you're younger so come and give your "old self" a hand'. The grin on Nine's face grew as he was almost giggling as he stepped forward, which Twelve noticed 'and wipe that stupid grin off your face' he said.  
'Oh sorry am I being disrespectful, sorry I couldn't me self' Nine said jokingly as he too got into position with the lever with his older self.  
They both pushed against the lever and this time it moved gradually and steadily into the opposite position from its original place "power restored, lake bridge enabled and activated" a slightly warped sounding mechanised male voice said as a display of a location of the lake side, with the island with the pillar of energy in the background, they had both found themselves at appeared. On the display were two figures, two men, standing a few steps away from a steel frame bridge, likely the same bridge the voice had referred to seconds go. Twelve's eyes widened in surprise as he recognised the two men 'those two…what are they doing here' Twelve wondered and questioned out loud, Nine looked at him then back at the display 'what? You know those two?' Nine asked.  
'What am I doing here there?' Twelve said before he turned and went back to the doorway as he said 'they're us' and left while Nine took a second to acknowledge his words 'ah, right, more me' he said before he made an "oh, okay" face. He then followed behind himself hot on Twelve's tail.  
As the two Doctors raced their way through the labyrinth they came across first a lone Cyberman 'you will be upgraded, resistance will not be tolerated, resist and you will be deleted' it said in it's dull, flat and raspy tone as it began to come after them 'run!' they both said at the same time.  
After running from it, avoiding it and slipping past it they both then encountered a Dalek 'Doooctoooor, you will be exterminated! Exterminate! Exterminate!' it cried out as it too began to follow behind them as both Doctors ran from it also 'oh great not you too' Nine said as he skidded to a halt 'just keep running!' Twelve said he turned on his heel and ran back the other way, though Nine had already done the same as well. After taking a few tricky turns they lost both the Dalek and the Cyberman and circled back as best they could.  
Just when they thought they were on the final stretch to safety the Cyberman appeared metres ahead of them while the Dalek appeared the same distance behind them 'you will be upgraded, resist and you will be deleted' the Cyberman said again 'you will be exterminated! Exterminate! Exterminate!' cried the Dalek again. They were trapped!  
However as the Cyberman advanced on them and the Dalek fired on them as they ducked a portion of the wall to their left slid aside to reveal another path which they followed without hesitation, quickly got their bearings again and headed for the way out.  
Minutes later they were both outside the labyrinth and running back to the lake while keeping a keen eye out for the beasts which had stalked them earlier.


	12. Chapt 11: The Island

Wide eyed with surprise, Eleven hadn't expected to meet his former self here and Ten had immediately spotted the green tipped sonic screwdriver in Eleven's hand and realised he had just bumped into his future self…or one of them. 'Oh…you, but…what are you- ?' Eleven said before Ten spoke 'ohhh…'. Both Doctors silently held each other's gaze for a few more seconds before Ten broke the silence 'what are you doing here then?' he questioned 'I could ask you the same thing, I don't remember me being here when I was you' Eleven replied and questioned at the same time. Again both Doctors held each other's gaze, looking at one another questioningly before Ten, again, broke the silence 'neither do I…yet somehow I do…' he said, Eleven furrowed his brows 'eh?' he said confused. Ten opened his mouth to say something, but for a few seconds no words came, until 'I don't know…it's distorted, fuzzy, hazy like a dream' he finally said, Eleven took a few steps towards himself 'what are you saying? Or trying to say?' he asked. Again Ten paused for a couple of seconds with his mouth open as if about to say something 'I'm not entirely sure myself, but something tells me we're not the only one's of us here' he said. Eleven maintained his furrowed brow look 'oh…you mean…oh right, wibbly wobbly timey wimey' he said in realisation as his own memories began to shift and open up, Ten speaking his future self's last four words at the same time as him to which they both grinned 'ah I- ' Eleven said with a big smile just before Ten intercepted his last few words 'love those words' Ten said with a grin 'I know right' Eleven said enthusiastically his smile growing just that LITTLE bit bigger.  
'Which ones?' Eleven asked '…uh not our past, but you shouldn't need to ask yourself that, after all I vaguely remember being here before in this place' Ten replied 'yes well it's just starting to come back now, they just need jogging' Eleven said as he tapped the side of his head with his index and middle fingers 'whoever they are' Eleven continued. Ten looked over at the pillar of energy on the island across the bridge as he said 'yeah well we should keep moving, try making our way across this bridge thing, we might bump into ourselves later along the way…whoever they are' the last words repeating what Eleven said just before.  
In that second a long drawn out mechanical hum sounded from the bridge like structure to their right as holographic light platforms materialised in each and every single gap portion going along the bridge making a straight path across it. Once again, both Doctors looked at each other in mild surprise 'well, off we go then' said Ten 'come on then' said Eleven, and with that they each simultaneously proceeded across the bridge at a brisk walking pace.  
Though when they reached the other side minutes later and stepped onto the island both Doctors halted when they heard two roars way back behind them. Looking back they saw two beasts that looked like a cross between a lion and a tiger, with more of a resemblance of the former due to the mane which wasn't quite as prominent as the average lion that was found on Earth but it gave some similarity.  
Although they'd never admit it, even between them, both Ten and Eleven couldn't help but feel intimidated by the sharp, pointed spikes protruded from each side of their somewhat large heads, three on each side with sharp teeth and fangs. Despite how unnerving the two beasts were because of how vicious they looked both Doctors were also fascinated by them considering they'd never seen anything like them before. So in was in that moment that they were both wide-eyed with wonder and fascination as well as shock and surprise, all four of these things kept both Doctors transfixed where they stood for a couple of moments before they both snapped back to their senses, realised the danger heading straight for them and quickly scrambled to bring out their sonic screwdrivers and sonic the bridge which then started to withdraw back under the surface of the lake taking the two beasts with it both of which tried to run through the water before leaping up to where Ten and Eleven stood at the edge of the island. Though their efforts became futile as the water impeded their speed and kept them from even reaching the edge of the island with so much as a claw when they got close and they were left paddling and swimming in the water.  
Both Doctors watched the two beasts as they flailed about in the water trying stay on the surface before they both began to clumsily swim their way back to shore 'aww they almost look kinda cute don't they when they're like that, not so nasty' Ten said with a bit of a smile 'maybe so but I still wouldn't recommend them as a pet' Eleven said in slight agreement with a bit of repulsed look on his face.  
They both then turned on the spot to go towards the stream of energy in the city of the somewhat small island when a sudden splashing noise made them turn back to the lake's edge to see the bridge re-emerge from underneath the surface of the lake and settle back into place right between the island and the lake shore across it. That was when they heard a voice with a Scottish accent from across the bridge 'Wait! Wait for us!' to which they looked across the bridge to see a grey haired man in black skinny pants and shoes and an open dark coloured coat, waistcoat and white shirt buttoned up to the collar running towards them with a green tipped sonic screwdriver in his hand the same as what Eleven had.  
With the elderly looking man was another that both Ten and Eleven recognised instantly 'oh here comes trouble' said Ten 'it's no wonder this place was so familiar to us' said Eleven to which Ten just responded with a simple 'yep'. Nine and Twelve slowed to a walk just a few steps away from them when Nine said 'so, a pretty boy and a giraffe, that's what I'm in for, no offense Doctor' he commented, turning to Twelve as he said the last few words 'none taken, I got a few too many ideas back in those days' said Twelve. Ten and Eleven looked to him with raised brows 'oy what's that supposed to mean?' Eleven said 'just ignore him he's just jealous' said Ten, Twelve raised a brow at them questioningly 'you think?' he said 'yeah, you know what I think you are' Eleven replied as he momentarily pointed at his future self before straightening his bow tie with what might have been a smug grin. 'Well never mind that' Twelve said as he looked up at the pillar of energy and where it was going into the barely perceivable port hidden in the artificial sky 'how did we forget this place? And that we'd been here before? With the exception of you of course' Twelve continued, looking at Nine, before he started to pace back and forth 'but more importantly, why are we all here? Who brought us here? What and where is this place exactly? Annnddd…' Twelve said as he stopped and looked up at the pillar of energy again then back at all of his younger selves expectantly 'WHERE does that lead?' Nine and Eleven both said at the same time.  
All four Doctors made various expressions before they each rapidly commented 'who knows, but it could lead to the heart of the ship' said Eleven 'there's always a chance, it might not be a pillar of energy at all, well not really, it could well be a gravity lift' Ten said in a matter of fact tone 'it's inactive at the moment though, right now it may as well be a pillar of energy, we need to find a way to reactivate it then see where it goes' said Nine. Twelve clapped his hands together 'yes! NOW we're getting somewhere, the control mechanism must around here somewhere and nearby' he said, with a flourish Eleven brought out his Sonic Screwdriver and soniced at the pillar of energy '…well?' Twelve said expectantly after a few seconds as he watched his former self.  
Eleven kept sonicing for a few seconds 'oh, that doesn't make it easy, there's some sort of interference, like another signal' he said as he began to step forward a bit and held up his sonic screwdriver. That's when he made an "oof" sound as he bumped into something and stumbled backwards, a ripple appearing for a second in the space where he collided with a transparent and invisible barrier. 'Ouch' Twelve said seemingly sympathetically, that or he also remembered the pain he had felt when he was in Eleven's shoes when it had happened to him. Eleven righted himself and put a hand to his face 'there's…there's a barrier' he said in a straight-up and blatant way 'no kidding' said both Ten and Twelve 'oh now don't start that' Nine said as brought his arms up as if to indicate for them to stop before he went on to say 'it's no wonder you were getting interference, we need to find a way to disable the force field'. Eleven pointed his sonic screwdriver at the fully transparent and see-through force field 'right focus on the energy signature of the force field, trace it back to the power source and it is riiigghhhhht…' he said as he soniced the force field before turning on the spot to the steel arm several feet away behind Twelve 'over there' said Eleven.  
Ten, being the closest, went to the steel arm and soniced open a panel before he tinkered with the wires inside and then soniced them as well. It was as he did so that the force field rippled and wavered a bit but remained up 'gah! It needs a simultaneous double override' Ten said. Nine, being closest to the other steel arm, looked over at it before he stepped toward and soniced the panel on it open as well and readjusted the wires inside before he did the same as Ten did and soniced them while Ten re-soniced the wires in his one. The force-field rippled and wavered again before shutting down and collapsing 'there we are' Ten said before he and Nine both said 'open sesame' at the same time which them looking at each other. They all expected Nine to protest again a bit, but he surprised him them somewhat when he giggled a bit as he came away from the steel arm he was at and Eleven started giggling a bit as well while Ten just looked at him wide-eyed with a big grin, Twelve also grinning a bit as he shook his head.  
Nine approached the rounded depressed port that the stream of energy was coming out of 'right, now to get this going'. In that moment a long thin slab-like control panel rose out of the edge of the depressed port with the actual square control portion at the top of the long thin slab angling at a 45 degree angle. Nine manipulated the controls accordingly which caused glowing rings of energy to start rising from near the edge of the gravity lift and stream up into the partially hidden port obscured above the artificial sky. 'There, up and running' said Nine. Then as he turned on the spot to his older selves a ringing began to sound from somewhere on Ten, that of a mobile phone, which stopped Nine in his tracks and had him looking at his succeeding self in surprise 'you have a mobile phone?' he questioned with slightly squinting eyes. 'yeeeah, got it from a friend, it must be Donna' Ten said before he flipped open the mobile phone and answered it 'Donna?' he said into it…

In the Tenth Doctor's TARDIS Donna was keeping a VERY tight grip on the console as the TARDIS shook, spun and rolled around in flight in such a way that it was beginning to make Donna feel queasy. Gripping her mobile phone in her hand as she held it to her ear Donna yelled into it over the crashing and loud noises around her 'your TARDIS has gone mental!'.

Ten furrowed his brows 'what? What's wrong with it?' he asked.

'I don't know! It's in flight and it keeps tumbling and turning itself over like it's in a violent storm after it just took off on its own, how do I make it stop?!' Donna replied.

'…you didn't press anything did you?' Ten asked.

'No I did not press anything! I wouldn't even know what to press, it's your TARDIS, I leave all the button pressing to you spaceman! Now tell me how to make it stop!' Donna said loudly into her mobile phone.

'Ok, right, um ok, first things first' Ten said as he gathered his thoughts together to verbally guide Donna through stabilising the TARDIS…  
While Ten had been answering his call from Donna, a ringing sound had come from Twelve's pockets 'really? You too?' Nine had said, Eleven had looked at Twelve a bit questioningly before he had said 'but then speaking of that, that could be handy right now I wonder how long I've been keeping Amy and Rory waiting in that café'. A look of consideration crossed Nine's face before he made a "I-don't-see-why-not" face 'I never really thought that, I just hope Rose is alright and not wondered anywhere looking for me, she'd know to stay with or inside the TARDIS'. It was during this exchange from when Twelve's mobile began to ring that he'd answered the call on his mobile from Clara 'Clara?' he said as he answered and spoke into the mobile.

'Doctor something's happening to your TARDIS, its gone mad!' Clara said on the other side.

'Well what do you mean it's gone mad? What's going on? You didn't press anything you're not supposed to did you?' Twelve asked as he, like Ten had done, turned away from Nine and Eleven who just looked back and forth between him and Ten.

'No it just started going on its own after I entered it when it just landed in my apartment' Clara replied.

'It just landed in yo- ' Twelve began to question before the situation became clear to him 'oh that must've been Emergency Protocol 6, the TARDIS went to you for help, the one immediate person I know and trust and now it's bringing you back, or trying to, there must be something blocking or preventing it from getting through if she's having a hard time'.  
'So what do we do? What do I do? Do I boost the power or what?' Clara said as loudly as she could over the noise the crashing noise the TARDIS was making.

'No, no more power she's already at full throttle' said Twelve 'ok Clara listen carefully, here's what you're going to do' pausing for a second to allow Clara a moment to ready herself for things, however he heard a clicking sound as the line was cut followed by static.  
Both Ten and Twelve lowered their mobile phone's from their ears, looking down on them as they did before turning back to themselves, Nine and Eleven, 'cut off' Twelve said with a grunt 'same here' said Ten.


	13. Chapt 12: TARDIS Troubles

_Concurrently…_

Rose clung to the console of the TARDIS as it shook and tumbled, but when it shook quite violently she staggered back against the railing behind her and grasped it for dear life _god where's the Doctor when you need him_ she thought. She wasn't about to get her mobile phone out to call him either because as far as she knew the Doctor didn't have or carry a mobile phone or any communication device which she could call him on, so she was pretty much on her own with no idea how to pilot or operate the controls since the Doctor hadn't shown her how to use the TARDIS and its controls.  
Rose couldn't even begin to wonder why the TARDIS has just taken off on its own in the first place, she had gone back to the TARDIS and waited outside it after having a quick look around for the Doctor after he had just seemingly disappeared and vanished without a trace thinking he would come back for her when he realised she wasn't with him.  
After a while of waiting around she had decided to go back into the TARDIS, it was then after she went to the pilots seat and sat on it that she noticed the flickering message on the scanner screen. Rose had barely had time to properly read the message before the dematerialisation lever had flipped down of its own accord and the TARDIS began to make the mechanical wheezing and groaning sound *vworp vworp* as the engines worked away and the central column rose and fell as the TARDIS took off. This had thrown Rose back against the pilot seat as it had done so and she had then, with some difficulty, reached the scanner screen to try and find out what was going on.  
Pulling the scanner screen around to get a look at the screen she had barely acknowledged what it read when the TARDIS lurched and Rose placed her free hand securely on the console and gripped it as much as she could. After what seemed to be minute of shaking, lurching and slight tumbling it all had subsided and Rose slowly recovered and looked up and let go of the console. The TARDIS was still in flight as the central column was still rising and falling repeatedly with persistant wheezing and groaning sound. However this only lasted about a few seconds before the engine sounds became stuttered and then a bit lower pitched as well before lurching, shaking and tumbling resumed.

Amy and Rory were experiencing the same trouble, Amy was against the console as she gripped it and Rory keeping a tight hold on the railing surrounding the console 'what's going on? Why is it going mental?' Rory said as loudly as he could over the crashing and sparking that the TARDIS was making. 'How should I know? I don't know how it works' Amy said as loudly as she could as well 'you've travelled with the Doctor more than I have I though you would have picked up a few things' said Rory, Amy began to move her hands along the console as he shifted her grip bit by bit to make her way to the scanner screen 'of course not, I only watched him pilot this thing, he makes it look easy' she replied. Making it to the scanner screen Amy gripped her hands fast onto the console to stabilise her position so she could look at the scanner screen which had shapes like quarter crescent moons and circles going in every direction on it while a message repeatedly flashed on screen "Warning: Temporal/Spatial Coordinates Unstable".  
Amy relayed this message to Rory who said in response 'what does that mean?' he asked 'I don't know, it's having trouble landing, it could be why the TARDIS is being stupid' Amy replied. A few more seconds of shaking, tumbling and crashing before Rory spoke again 'call the Doctor, does he have a phone on him?' he suggested 'no I don't think so' Amy replied again. In response to this Rory did a "oh god, seriously?" movement with his head before saying the same thing then 'you'd think he would have one in case something like this happens' he said.  
In that movement the TARDIS'es troubled flight eased and smoothed out, during which Amy and Rory got up from their bracing positions and went to each other 'you alright?' Rory asked Amy in a normal tone who responded 'yeah I'm fine, you?' also normally, Rory let a breath out and looked around before he replied 'apart from maybe a couple of bruises and slight queasiness I'm fine yeah'. Their respite didn't last long though as the TARDIS shook a bit and immediately made stuttered and troubled engine sounds of slightly lowering pitch before the flight turbulence setback in which caused Amy and Rory to fall back against the railing with each other, holding one another as they did so 'oh great here we go again' Rory said raising his voice to be heard amongst the returning chaos 'just hold on' Amy said, her voice also raised over all the noise. Rory looked around and all over the console from where he knelt slightly against the railing 'there must be something we can do to stop this, does the Doctor keep a manual anywhere?' he asked, Amy braced again the shaking of the control room for a couple of seconds before she replied 'no I don't think so, he's been piloting this thing for years, he alone knows how it works, he's never needed a manual'.  
Rory made another movement with his head, this time "oh come on" 'you mean we're just going to have to wait this out?' he said, Amy tried to use the railing to pull herself up to prop up against it 'it seems like it yeah' she said, Rory did the same 'but then who knows how long we'll have to before this passes' he said as he tried to help her up while she helped him up.


	14. Chapt 13: The Hooded Man

The four Doctors looked all around in every direction before looking up to where the gravity lift was streaming up to in the sky, beyond the fake artificial sky. 'Something here is enforcing a blocking signal, your companions were able to contact you both for a while before they were shut out' Nine said as he looked at Ten and Twelve 'your TARDIS's were experiencing flight troubles, so the same block could be preventing them from materialising and landing here if they're trying to get through'. Twelve looked up where the gravity lift was going again 'we need to follow this gravity lift up, it'll lead us to whoever or whatever is behind all this' he said, Ten and Eleven both nodded 'yep' and 'yes' they said.  
Nine looked to his future selves before he gestured for them to come forward 'right let's go' he said, Ten, Eleven and Twelve stepped forward onto the floor of the gravity lift with Nine doing the same and seconds later they began to rise up through the cylinder-like stream of energy that was the gravity lift well towards the same receiving port. As they did so the four Doctors took what time they had before they would enter through the receiving port in the sky to take in and admire and appreciate the view of the landscape they had each found themselves in hours ago with its circular lake and island bang smack in the middle of it all almost like a bull's eye and almost entirely green and forested landscape with patches of bare and grassy land about the place surrounding it. Half a minute later they disappeared into the receiving port in the sky…

…some seconds after the four Doctors entered into the port in the sky, hollow and stuttered sounds of the TARDIS engines could be heard in an echoing way as one after another each the four Doctors TARDIS'es briefly materialised in the air miles above the contained land in a troubled way before disappearing again. First the Ninth Doctor's TARDIS with Rose inside then the Tenth Doctor's TARDIS after its past version disappeared again with a slight zap then the Eleventh Doctor's TARDIS then the Twelfth's in the same fashion. Inside each TARDIS each of the four Doctor's companions were shaken about tumbling and holding onto the console as much as they could for all it was worth as the TARDIS they each occupied tried, struggled and failed to land.

 _Elsewhere…_

A cloaked and hooded figure in a robe sat before a big and wide glass window with a view of space beyond it. In front of him were multiple individual projected hologram displays, one of which had a view of the gravity lift that the four incarnations of the Doctor had gone up before disappearing into the port in the sky that had been partially concealed by a perception filter as well as the artificial sky. The hooded figure had been somewhat surprised by how soon the four Doctors had spotted the peculiarity in the patch of artificial sky that the gravity lift had been streaming through, and then through that perceived the port hole through the slight concealment of the perception filter which was a very powerful variant. _Never mind, it was only a matter of time before the Doctor and his other selves caught on to things_ the hooded man thought as he watched another display of the four Doctors going up the gravity lift shaft together and getting closer to finding him 'not long now Doctors, soon…' the hooded man said.


	15. Chapt 14: Split Action

One by one each of the four Doctors appeared standing on a circular section of floor in dim flashes of light standing together in a semi-circle, they each looked around and took in where they had ended up 'huh not what I was expecting' said Nine 'what were you expecting?' Ten said as he took in the room they appeared in 'dunno, just…not this' Nine replied. Ten nodded 'right, me neither' he said in agreement 'we can take in the place later you two, we need to find the control room or deck of this place, whatever or wherever this place is' said Eleven 'he's right, let's move' Twelve said before he stepped forward and led the way through some doors which slid apart, Nine, Ten and Eleven followed close behind.  
Where they found themselves next was also unexpected, but more so than where they had appeared after riding the gravity lift up to where they were. A somewhat strong-ish wind brushed and lightly lashed the four Doctors as they stood on a long and narrow steel bridge that extended out over a glowing yet seemingly bottomless pit of a cylindrical shaft like that of a hot water cylinder in a household hot water cupboard _probably the reactor?_ All four Doctors thought as they looked down over the side of the long steel bridge. Ten's spiked up and sticky uppy hair stirred a bit as it was slightly disturbed by the power of the wind surging through the place but held in place while strands and tuft of hair in Eleven's flopped over side-quiff of hair also stirred and shifted a bit. Subtly noting this Nine thought _the downsides of having big or floppy hair, that's what I've got to look forward to_ while Twelve thought _I'm glad that's not an issue for me anymore, not that it bothered me at the time when I was them_.  
Above them was a domed ceiling with the steel walls rising and arcing up as part of it. In the centre of the huge interior was a platform with a lone robed and hooded figure sitting in the middle of it in a big and dark-looking throne-like seat that stood on a slim curved base. Each of the four Doctors saw and looked at the figure with the same thought on their minds _who's that?_ Looking at one another and exchanging looks. It was then that a hologram display of the same figure appeared before them, his face overshadowed and hidden under the hood of his robe 'Doctor' he said in low-pitched, gritty and hoarse voice as if he'd been expecting them, his accent British and his voice seeming to carry and speak authority as he enunciated his words perfectly and clearly 'or should I say Doctors, we meet at last' the volume of his voice through the display hologram loud enough for them all to hear clearly.  
Twelve stepped forward a bit, with a bit of difficulty as he encountered some resistance from the considerably strong wind rushing through the place 'I take it you're the one behind all this?' said Twelve, having raised his voice a bit to be heard above the whooshing of the strong-ish wind. The hologram display of the figure sitting in the distance floated and bobbed in the air in front of Twelve 'why yes I am Doctor, I brought you and your other…past selves here for a little test' the man said, Twelve was about to say something in response to these words, the other three Doctors making expressions as they found the Hooded Man's words curious.  
The Hooded Man spoke again though before any of them could begin to get a word in 'although "little" does undermine the scale of the situation and what you and your other selves have been through Doctor, you'll have to forgive my choice of words there' he said, his voice seeming to carry some malice. Twelve briefly glanced off to the side for a split second in wonder of this man's words before quickly returning his gaze to the hologram display 'what kind of test?' Twelve asked, continuing to keep his voice raised about the ringing of the rushing wind around them, Ten spoke up now 'you're not trying to kill me, you could've done so though, you've had four chances among many to do so, but you haven't, not yet' said.  
Eleven stepped forward beside Twelve 'so why bring us here? What acts have I committed against you that you're holding against me? Why am I here really? Why bring four of me here together in this place? I don't even know who you are' Eleven questioned also having raised his voice over the wind. The Hooded Man's response was instantaneous 'no you don't, who I am isn't important, but why I have brought you, four of you here is' he said, pausing for a second before continuing 'but really, I have to ask this Doctor, WHY do you think I've brought four of YOU here to my domain, that where you found yourself earlier and where you now find yourself and will soon venture, why your specific incarnations Doctors? That specifically in this case is the real question, which I have been expectantly waiting for you to ask' he said. All four Doctors raised a brow 'well we were about to get to get to that question, but I, me, myself and I wanted to hear to what you had to say first' Nine said as he too now stepped forward alongside his older selves.  
The hooded man spoke again without any acknowledgement of what Nine had just said 'your actions, what you have done as a time traveller since the conclusion of the Last Great Time War by your hand alone, that is why you are here' he said. Silence followed as the four Doctors acknowledged what the Hooded Man had just said '…your point?' Twelve questioned using his "attacking eyes" but with one brow raised.  
For a few seconds the Hooded didn't answer 'come forward now Doctor and we shall speak face to face' the Hooded Man eventually said through the hologram display. Without warning the Doctors found themselves moved forward across the bridge to the circular end of it, kind like with a Yale key, in a sudden rushing blur of their surroundings and standing before the hooded man, whose features were still hidden underneath his hood, all without having taken a single step 'your continued ventures in dabbling in and interfering with events throughout time and space Doctor, despite the enforced laws of your kind, the Time Lords' the Hooded Man continued.  
Eleven shook his head a bit 'oh, I've been through that multiple times with them now, the first time I presented a valid and convincing case in my defense, though they still exiled me for it anyway and changed my appearance against my will' he said whose words seemed to carry resentment in what he said 'they tried again a second time and I very much almost lost the rest of my lives as well as the trial, but I managed to wriggle out of it and turn things around, with the help of the Master…if it wasn't for him we probably wouldn't be here and have gotten this far in my lives' he continued.  
The Hooded Man kept going 'circumstances at the time on those occasions ultimately went in your favour Doctor, but since those times you have continued to "flunk" the rules you, as a Time Lord, were and are responsible for upholding, such as when you knowingly and deliberately of your own volition altered a fixed point in time *tut tut tut* STRICTLY forbidden'.  
All four Doctors looked at the Hooded Man confused, until he said 'do the words "2059", "Mars" and "Captain Adelaide Brooke" mean anything Doctor?' at these words Twelve's expression changed to that of understanding and realisation before then turning to shame and regret for a while 'what?' Ten said as he furrowed his brows. Something flashed through Eleven's eyes similar to what had just crossed Twelve's features, Nine just looked at each of his future selves with a sustained look of confusion 'What's that? What's he talking about?'.  
Twelve squinted at the Hooded Man questioningly 'how is it that you know all this? Events in my life and in time that I've been involved in, what are your sources and where are you getting all your information from?' he questioned as he too furrowed his brows, but in such a way that enhanced his naturally fierce look. The hooded man ignored him and went on 'such a low point you were at in your life after the Time War Doctor living with and shouldering the guilt of your actions during and at the conclusion of the Time War…until you met your lovely companion Rose' he said almost mockingly.  
Nine just looked at the Hooded man in a bit of a curious way before redirecting his gaze downward for a couple of seconds before returning his gaze to the Hooded man while taking on a big smile in such a way as if to say "Really? You're going to do that? You might want to reconsider that" 'ok, I commend you for having done your homework, clap clap to you for that' Nine said as he clapped his hand slowly a few times 'but here's the thing, unless you leave that and her out of this I'm going to get very angry and believe me when I say you won't like when I'm angry' Ten and Eleven just looked at him then back at the Hooded Man in silent agreement while Twelve looked back at the Hooded Man from his past self, Nine, and said 'what…he said' while pointing back at his youngest self.  
The Hooded Man just grunted dismissively 'you are in no position to be making threats Doctor, so to me they are hollow at best' he said before he continued with reminding the Doctor of the past 1100 years of his long life 'how much angst you must have had to live with during your years of protecting the town of Christmas on the planet Trenzalore to prevent another Time War through the return of the Time Lords, reliving the tragedies of war and doing what you "had to do" to protect the people whom you lived amongst' Nine and Ten just looked at the Hooded Man with confused expressions while looking at Eleven, who looked at the Hooded Man wide-eyed then at his older self, 'what?' said Ten.  
Twelve gave the Hooded Man a hard look to which the Hooded Man responded 'touched a nerve have I Doctor?' he said almost tauntingly and mockingly 'of course not, because all of that is behind me, you're right I did what I had to do to protect all those people at the time and save lives by preventing another Time War, I'm just reading you to work out who you are' Twelve replied. A couple of seconds of silence followed before the Hooded Man spoke again 'again it matters not' he said 'well it does to me, I'm interested to know who's judging me and the past 1100 plus years of my life' Twelve said before he relaxed his look 'seriously why don't you just lower your hood and show and tell us who you are, don't be shy, honestly we won't judge'.  
More silence followed before the Hooded said 'I've enjoyed our little discussion Doctor, even if I did do most of the talking, I look forward to continuing it upstairs should you survive what happens next' before he pressed a button on his seat which was then surrounded by a transparent energy field and lifted upwards and away. The four Doctors watched him go 'oh now that's just not fair' Twelve said 'we have to go after him' said Nine who stepped forward beside Twelve, Eleven came between them and said 'that might be a little difficult' both Nine and Twelve looked at him 'why?' they both questioned simultaneously 'because we've got company' Ten said as he stood at the edge of the end of the overhanging bridge. Nine, Eleven and Twelve looked to where Ten was looking, Nine and Twelve seeing what Eleven meant: at first it looked like a wall of liquid metal was climbing up the sides of the massive circular shaft, but when Ten put on his brainy specs he confirmed what they were actually seeing 'yeeeeep that's a whole lot of tiny robots coming up the side of the shaft, probably coming right for us to do something unpleasant and nasty' he said 'you think?' said Twelve 'well it did look like a wall of liquid metal from this distance, it could've been anything' Ten said.  
Nine turned on the spot with his sonic screwdriver in hand and soniced the spot where the Hooded Man had sat moments ago 'there's no time to lose then' he said as he did so, a platform then rose from the floor onto which Twelve stepped onto 'well, come on then' he said to each of his three former selves. Ten and Eleven both shook their heads 'you go on ahead' said Ten 'we'll keep these small robot things at bay' Eleven said immediately after Ten as if to finish his words. Nine turned back to his older self, Twelve, 'so, what's the plan? You going to give him you're scary brow look?' Nine asked in an almost cheeky way 'yeah aren't you three jealous? These things make me look angry when I'm really not, what do you think?' Twelve responded to Nine's comment in an enthusiastic way 'blimey they're big' Ten said as if he'd only just acknowledged them 'it's like they're on steroids' said Eleven, Twelve's grin widened across his face 'I know right, they're great'.  
Nine joined him on the platform and it began to ascend up to the domed ceiling of the spacious shaft way up high above them while Ten and Eleven remained on the bridge, bringing out their sonic screwdrivers in readiness for the robots which were heading straight towards them across the half-bridge. 'Right, you ready?' Ten asked his future self who replied 'no, are you?' said Eleven 'of course not' Ten responded back to him 'that's the spirit' Eleven said, it was then that a few of the small robots dropped from above onto the bridge behind them landing on their claw-like legs. Ten turned to and began to sonic them 'I not sure this this will do anything, I'm not even sure what this will do but's it's our best chance' he said as the robots he was sonicing began to play up and behave erratically, just as Eleven said 'just do it and sonic them, whatever works works, you just watch that end and I'll take care of this end'.  
The small crab-like robots coming across the bridge were almost on them and within range for Eleven to start sonicing them. One of the robots on Ten's side became erratic to the point where it scurried towards him and leaped up along with another causing Ten to duck and shout out at the same time 'duck, from behind!' which Eleven did so at the exact same time as Ten did and the robot flew harmlessly over them both. 'Thanks!' Eleven said as he kept sonicing the robots in front of him while more robots dropped down on Ten's side, but now robots were starting appear on the sides of the bridge of either side of both Doctors 'incoming on both sides!' Eleven said 'I can see that!' Ten acknowledged.  
As they each took a second, or two, to rethink their strategy and tactics, they had a moment of synchronised talk 'we have to coordinate!' 'I know!' 'just sonic them!' they both said to each other simultaneously in perfect synchronisation. Both Doctors had a look of grim determination as they each widened the direction ark in which they were pointing their sonic screwdrivers, both oscillating the hand in which they held their sonic screwdrivers in perfect coordination to the point where when either Doctor pointed his sonic screwdriver in his general direction the other Doctor would point in the direction directly opposite to the direction the other Doctor would be pointing his sonic screwdriver. Meanwhile, the horde of robots showed no signs of relenting…yet…


	16. Chapt 15: The Doctor(s) Will See You Now

The platform lifting the Ninth and Twelfth Doctors slowed as it made its way up through a shaft that was a bit confined and nowhere NEAR as spacious as the big and wide reactor shaft the two Doctors had come from. Then it arrived in a slightly more confined half-circle space on the edge of a control centre from a ship. That is it looked like it would be from and part of a ship. Sitting with the back of his seat to the window that looked out into space and facing them was the Hooded Man 'you're surprisingly early Doctor, where are your other selves? Still down below I take it' he said to them from across the expansive room.  
Twelve soniced the control panel beside the alcove where he and Nine had arrived on the platform which then descended back down the shaft to the lower level where Ten and Eleven were still before both he and Nine stepped towards him 'I'm handing things down below against your army of small robots' Twelve replied 'in the meantime it's about time we had a talk' Nine said firmly 'WHO are you and why exactly have you brought us here to…whatever and wherever this vessel is?' Twelve questioned as he gestured all around the place 'you seem to know a great deal about me and what I've done'.  
The Hooded Man was silent for a few seconds as he seemed to look at Twelve evaluatingly 'I've told you once Doctor, I've told you twice but I'll tell you one last time…who I am is NOT important, what's important is why you ar- ' the Hooded Man responded before both Doctors cut him off 'yes we heard you the first time' they both said simultaneously 'but why the secrecy? So you brought me, myself and I here for a reason, that I can understand, but are you someone from my past, or future?' Twelve asked. 'How is it that you know so much about me and my life?' Nine asked, chipping in 'but more importantly what EXACTLY am I being tried for and WHY? If that is actually what's going on here' Twelve questioned, posing the last question in a "double-checking" tone.  
Again, the Hooded Man, though his face was hidden and overshadowed, looked at the two Doctors for a moment before responding 'at last you ask the true and proper question, it's about time Doctor I've been waiting for that question for quite some time, I must say you're a bit slow on it' he said. 'Yeah, well- ' Nine began 'you can't blame me for keeping things interesting before the big climactic truth' Twelve continued 'so, you're answer to my question?' Nine concluded…

 _Concurrently…_

More than several minutes had passed since Nine and Twelve had ascended up to the domed ceiling of the shaft to reach the upper level where the mysterious Hooded Man had seemingly gone to, leaving Ten and Eleven to handle, deal with and hold back the horde of small robots that were relentlessly assaulting them. There seemed to be no end to them. 'We can't keep this up forever we have to stop them somehow!' Eleven said out loud at the top of his voice over the commotion of the small robots trying to overwhelm them 'I know!' said Ten who then looked back when he heard a hollow humming and saw the platform that Nine and Twelve had taken up to the upper level descend and arrive at the end of the half-bridge. Turning back to the force of robots still coming at them both then looking at his older self, Ten said to him 'our ride's here' which made Eleven look back and when he too saw the platform responded 'come on then let's go!' and both he and Ten began to step back towards the platform while still sonicing forwards, backwards and to each side. When they both got near the platform they took their time, but not too much time, stepping onto the platform as they divided their attention and concentration between holding off the waves of robots coming at them and stepping onto the platform. Ten was just about to put his other foot on the platform after Eleven had just stepped onto it until a robot came out of nowhere and took him by surprise, leaping onto him and causing him to stagger. Then, for some reason the platform began to lift off the floor of the half-bridge and ascend with Ten not quite able to regain himself enough to get onto the platform.  
However, he did manage to grab hold of the side of the platform to which he then held onto for dear life as it made its way up toward the domed ceiling of the shaft. As Ten hung from the side of the platform with Eleven down on the ground to grab a hold of him the robot that leapt onto Ten was still hanging on by the tail of his overcoat on which it was beginning to make it's up way up to him while grappling with the wind whizzing past it 'hold on!' Eleven said still at the top of his voice 'I am! Pull me up!' Ten said back to him. Eleven looked past him at the robot making its gradual way up Ten's overcoat 'just a second!' Eleven said as he began to shift his grip and position to keep hold of Ten while painstakingly put his hand into his tweed jacket to get his sonic screwdriver having put it away before when the platform had begun to ascend. 'What are you doing?' Ten asked as Eleven slowly but gradually managed to bring out his sonic screwdriver 'getting rid of the robot, it'll make pulling you up easier otherwise we'll have to contend with it' Eleven replied before his sonic screwdriver bleeped away.  
The small robot began to slow in its movements to get up Ten's overcoat before moving around Ten so that it was now just below his waist 'where do you think you're going' Eleven said as moved to point his sonic screwdriver down Ten's front. However, as if it had developed an intelligence in the last few minutes it shifted again so that it was back on the overcoat. In that second an idea sprang to Eleven's mind and he looked his younger self in the eye 'alright I'm going to try something, just hold on and I'll pull you up' said Eleven 'wha- ?' Ten began to ask, but before he could say anything more Eleven reached over him again with his sonic screwdriver and pointed it at the robot again which, again, shifted to below Ten's waist 'what are you doing?!' Ten questioned 'just trust me' Eleven said before immediately hauling Ten up onto the platform as the robot settled into position on Ten's upper legs.  
This time it didn't anticipate being hauled up so fast that it hit the underside of the platform, not having enough time to move to save itself and was knocked off Ten before it fell back down through the air and plummeted down into the shaft. Both Doctors lay on the floor of the platform as they recovered and caught their breath, Ten exhaling before he said 'that was a tense and close one' Eleven wasn't yet able to respond as he was still panting and catching his breath, but managed to smile and raise a thumbs-up.  
When their platform disappeared up through the ceiling of the shaft the silence within the massive void of the space that was the huge spacious shaft, save for the howling wind that whizzed through and around the place, settled back. Though this was interrupted and broken by multiple echoing and stuttered sounds of the engines of the TARDIS…multiple TARDIS's as four of them, one after the other, briefly materialised in the air around the half-bridge. Their fruitless attempts to fully materialise and land evident by their troubled and stuttered engine sounds before they disappeared again…


	17. Chapt 16: The Old Girl Arrives, Finally

'I thought it would have been obvious at this point Doctor: your life and actions post-Time War' the Hooded Man answered, this had Nine and Twelve looking at each other then back at the Hooded Man 'is that it?' Twelve questioned 'and here I thought it was for something big and bad' said Nine 'not that I've ever done anything big AND bad' said Twelve. Nine looked at him questioningly 'are you sure?' he said, Twelve looked at him with a "Really? YOU'RE asking me that?" look 'well I don't know, even though this is me we're talking about, I might be getting a bit senile in my old age' Nine said in response to Twelve's questioning look 'seriously can you drop it' Twelve responded.  
The Hooded Man spoke again 'every action has a consequence Doctor' Twelve stepped closer to the Hooded Man 'so this is a trial' he said 'by whose authority and jurisdiction? The Shadow Proclamation?' Nine asked questioningly. 'Not the shadow proclamation no, they have no interest in you nor any reason to bother with you' the Hooded Man said.  
Twelve made an expression and shrugged before looking at Nine 'no matter, I've just arrived' he said before looking to the alcove behind them, as did Nine, 'here I am' Twelve said as he gestured and as if on cue the platform they'd arrived on before arrived again with Ten and Eleven standing on it who then stepped forward and joined Nine and Twelve. Eleven took a moment to straighten his bowtie. 'Now to get down to business' Nine said with a hard look as they each then looked at the Hooded Man and each simultaneously brought out their sonic screwdrivers and soniced the Hooded Man's seat 'really Doctor? What do you think you're going to achie- ' the Hooded Man questioned before his seat made a brief low hum that lowered in pitch a bit as it was heard and a shimmer rippled through the air around it. Some sort of barrier that had been in place around the Hooded Man had lowered 'what? What is this? What are you do- ' the Hooded Man said, but was cut off as each Doctor, keeping his sonic screwdriver raised, soniced the seat again and some cables emerged from it that subdued and immobilised the Hooded Man 'what? No! Stop! Stop that! How dare you!'.  
Each of the four Doctors put away their sonic screwdriver at the same time 'there, not so powerful and dominating now are you' said Nine, the Hooded Man tried to struggle against the bonds of his own throne but was too subdued to make even the slightest movement 'ugh, no…how did I let this happen, I waited for centuries and through half a dozen lives to take you down the way I had planned to Doctor, damn you!' he said.  
All four Doctors suddenly became wide eye-eyed as their expressions changed to that of shocked surprise, looked at one another then back at the Hooded Man all in the space of a second 'eh?' said Eleven 'what did you just say?' said Ten 'Wha- ? Half a dozen lives?' said Nine while Twelve just looked at him squinty-eyed. 'You're a- ' he eventually said before the Hooded Man scoffed interrupting him 'really Doctor? There was no way I was going to let the war stop me' he said, all that the four Doctors could do in the present moment was stare at him speechless as they processed what he had just said and had said seconds before, or tried to 'who are you?' Twelve said with a hard look 'that's what we'd like to know' said Ten 'please, do tell' Nine said with an edge to his tone as well as a hard look. Twelve followed up with more questions 'do you know where Gallifrey is? Where is it? Tell me!' he said which had Nine, Ten and Eleven look at him suddenly and curiously, especially Nine who seemed shockingly surprised 'long story, I'll tell you later' Twelve said as he looked at them then back the Hooded Man who just laughed 'my silence on that is my one true victory against you in wake of the outcome of things here Doctor, all I'll say is this: have fun finding it'.  
With the Hooded Man's last few words Twelve could just imagine a wicked grin on the Hooded Man's hidden face. Unnoticed by the four Doctors during the last couple of minutes the Hooded Man has been slowly, carefully and gradually inching one of his hands forward enough to press a button on his throne-like seat. It wasn't until the Hooded Man's fingers began to reach over the button to press it that Nine, who had been watching him like a hawk with his hard gaze, and possibly noticed for the first time the Hooded Man's hidden but obscured features and thought he saw a big grin, finally noticed the subtle hand and finger movements. But then by then it was a tad too late. _Eh?_ Nine thought when the Hooded Man's sneaky hand and finger movements caught his eye, followed by 'hey, wha-?' he said quietly followed by '...no!' he said out loud and began to step forward to stop him, but it was in that moment that the Hooded Man's finger pushed on the button and he began to shimmer which stopped Nine mid-step.  
Ten, Eleven and Twelve looked at their past self as Nine stepped forward to try to stop the Hooded Man before they too noticed why Nine was stepping forward within a second and took on expressions of surprise. The Hooded Man shimmered for a couple of seconds before just disappearing and outright vanishing from the spot completely. Each Doctor had a different and varied response: Nine just abruptly turned on the spot after staring at the spot for a couple of seconds where the Hooded Man had just been, turning his back to his future selves and stepped away before stopping a few steps from where he had been standing and looked around the place in frustration, Ten groaned through his teeth and also turned on the spot away from the window looking out into space, Eleven just stared at the spot where the Hooded Man had been with a slightly contorted face of annoyance and anger while Twelve just simmered and growled silently. Their moment of minor defeat was broken when a hologram screen of the Hooded Man appeared in the space immediately above the over bulky chair _'hello Doctor, did you REALLY think you were going to garner that much of a victory from me? Finding your way up to me from the confines of the hunting ground in which you found yourself after you were taken out of time, gaining the upper hand over me, which was due to an underestimation on my part which won't happen again, AND getting information from me of that which you so wish to find after aimlessly shifting it?'_ he said. All four Doctors put their hands into their suit and jacket pockets to bring out their sonic screwdrivers, however they stopped short with the Hoooded Man's next words _'oh and don't bother trying to trace the origin of this feed Doctor, this is a pre-recorded video message set to play to you in the event that you should somehow, for some reason happen to overpower and subdue me'_ Nine, Ten and Eleven soniced the hologram display before them while Twelve just held his sonic screwdriver in his hand already knowing it was no use in this case. His past selves took on expressions of calm disappointment as they confirmed and realised the validity of the Hooded Man's words _'like I said Doctor, don't bother'_ said the hologram display of the Hooded Man like he'd known they would try _'and if you're wondering where I am now, simply, I have placed myself into cryogenic stasis from which I will be released as soon as your bio-signatures are no longer detected anywhere on this vessel'_. Each Doctor raised a brow 'well didn't he slip through the cracks' said Ten 'talk about the easy way out' Nine said in a slightly annoyed tone 'we still need to find a way off this vessel and get back to our own TARDIS's and time streams' said Eleven.  
Twelve turned his gaze away from his other selves and looked in the direction of the alcove from which they'd reached the control centre. 'I don't think we need to' he said as multiple instances of the TARDIS and the engine sound it made as it materialised began to echo throughout the roomy and spacious area of the control centre. Four transparent blue police boxes began to appear and become less transparent and more solid with each passing second as they materialised in a row in a sort of one-after-the-other fashion, a split second apart before making the hollow *thud* upon being fully materialised.


	18. Chapt 17: There You Are Doctor

All four Doctors breathed sighs of relief 'she finally got through and found us' Eleven said with a grin 'and not a moment too soon' said Nine 'she couldn't have picked a better time' Ten said with a smile 'the block must've lowered as soon as…whoever he was' Twelve said as he looked at the empty throne-seat 'removed himself from things'. In was in that moment that one by one each of the Doctors TARDIS's opened and their companions emerged slowly and carefully: Clara then Amy and Rory, then Donna followed by Rose a few seconds later.  
For Ten and Eleven the sight of Rose, as soon as she emerged and they saw her, made their hearts skip beats and they both felt a weird flush wash over them 'Rose' they both muttered quietly under their breaths. 'Doctor there you are' Rose said as she began to step towards her Doctor, Nine, and hugged him while Nine just stood there open armed in surprise 'oh hello, what that's for' he said before he put his arms around her to return the hug before it ceased a second later.  
This caused both Ten and Eleven to feel a clinch on their hearts _if only I'd appreciated that hug more at the time when I was him_ they both thought, Eleven looking at his former self, Ten, knowing that he too was thinking exactly the same thing before Ten looked back at him and shared his pained look as they both shared the same feeling between them _yeah, I know exactly how you feel_ before they both looked back at Rose for a second before they were hugged by their own companions. Donna with Ten and Amy with Eleven with Rory right behind her giving Eleven a soft and friendly punch on his arm just below his shoulder 'don't you dare disappear on me like that again spaceman' Donna said as she back-hand slapped Ten lightly on his shoulder 'where the hell were you?' she questioned, Ten let out a breath 'it's a long story I'll tell you soon' he said.  
'What took you so long? I thought you were going to get your special straw' Amy said to Eleven who responded 'I was, but then something happened and I found myself in this place, except not **here** exactly but somewhere else'. Clara had gone to Twelve after closing the door to the TARDIS behind her 'not the first time you've swept me out of my own life to be part of yours' she said 'I told you that was the emergency protocol, it wasn't me' said Twelve. Then gradually Rose, Donna, Amy and Rory and Clara acknowledged each other as well the other Doctors they didn't know.  
'Who are they?' Rose asked the Doctor as she looked at the Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth Doctors 'they're me, from the future, the spiky-haired one, the bow-tie and the elder' the Doctor replied as he looked at each of his older selves, Rose looking at him confused, before he turned his gaze back to her 'the others I guess must be "future friends of mine"' which got him a questioning look from Rose.  
'So, who are they?' Donna asked as she pointed at the other Doctors, the Doctor inhaled 'they're my past and future, old and new faces of mine' he said 'what? What do you mean?' Donna responded with mild shock at the Doctor's words as she looked at him with a mixed look of question and confusion, the Doctor inhaled again at this 'I'll explain later' he said. Donna then looked at Rose 'this might be a silly question, but…who's she?' Ten took another deep breath, without opening his mouth, as he once again acknowledged Rose even though he'd been partly hoping to be distracted enough to not do so again, the pained look on his face and in his eyes returning as his gut clenched a bit. Donna noticed this and her expression shifted a bit 'Doctor?...are you-…wait, is that- ' she began before the Doctor interrupted her 'that's Rose, yeah, that's her' he said a tad too quickly. Acknowledging this while looking at Rose again Donna then looked back at him and noticed how uncomfortable he was 'sorry, I- ' she said 'no, it's alright, don't mind me' the Doctor said as he sniffed before he made Rose a blind spot in his field of vision again despite part of himself urging and begging him to acknowledge and look at her since he might never see her again after they parted ways with the Doctor's other selves and their companions. 'I just wasn't sure, why don't you go and say hello?' Donna suggested, the Doctor's eyes darted about a bit before he looked at Donna for a second then his gaze moving 'no, no no no I'm fine' he said calmly, Donna looked at him in surprise 'are you sure? This might be your only chance to see her again, go on, go say hello' she gently insisted.  
The Doctor's eyes became pain-filled as his emotions began to bubble up and breach the surface of his composure which he did his best with every ounce of willpower and character to hold back as he looked at Donna 'I can't Donna, I just can't, I could but then she doesn't know who I am, to her I'm still in her future…' the Doctor said trailing as if he might say something more, but didn't as he looked to try and pull himself together. Donna looked at him in consideration, then 'alright, we won't go there then' she said calmly and submissively not wanting to push the Doctor to do something if and when he really didn't want to do so 'no, yeah' the Doctor said dismissively as he looked around while keeping his gaze well away from Rose 'right' Donna agreed, and that was the end of it.  
Rory was looking at the other three blue boxes 'uh, so Doctor, how come there are three other TARDIS's here like yours?' he asked 'because they belong to my past and future selves' the Doctor said as he pointed in both directions to Nine, Ten and Twelve his hands crisscrossing past each other as he gestured 'they're past versions of the TARDIS, my TARDIS'. Amy looked at the Doctor curiously 'and they're your past…and future companions?' she asked as she pointed at Clara, Donna and Rose 'yes, yes they are' the Doctor said as he looked at and acknowledged Rose and Donna with pained reluctance then at Clara, an expression of familiarity crossing his features _hmm, she seems familiar, where have I seen her before?…_ the Doctor thought.  
Amy interrupted his thoughts 'Doctor you said they're your past and future selves, what do you mean by that?' she questioned, the Doctor looked at her for a couple of seconds in acknowledgement of her slightly unexpected question before he replied 'as in they're me, older and younger'. This got him a confused look from both Amy and Rory 'older and younger? Wha- ' Rory began to say 'but they look nothing like you, they're faces, they're- ' Amy said before the Doctor answered their questions 'older-looking than mine, yeah they are, but looks aren't everything, they can be deceiving' he said.  
The Doctor looked at Nine and Ten 'the bloke in the leather jacket he's my earliest face among the four of me here, then spiky-haired suit was my previous face' he said 'hm he's not bad' Amy said with a bit of a grin which got her a look from Rory who just said 'what?'. 'yeeaahh' the Doctor said in restrained agreement while trying to be modest before he turned to Twelve and went to explain him, though Rory beat him to it 'and he's who you become next?' Rory clarified 'yes, it would seem so' the Doctor confirmed before looked at his future self for a second 'ugh I get old, I don't like old, old is not cool' he said with a repulsed look.  
Clara looked at and acknowledged the Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh Doctors 'I see you've met yourself again' she said 'yeah' was all the Doctor said in reply 'it's strange seeing the old you, before you changed, again' Clara said as she looked at Eleven with Amy and Rory 'just standing a few feet away, and he doesn't know who I am because he hasn't met me yet…is that how you used to dress?' Clara said as she kept her gaze on Eleven before returning it back to her Doctor with question. The Doctor acknowledged the tone of her look 'what? What's wrong with that? Tweed and a bow-tie?' he said, Clara looked back at Eleven 'it's a bit old fashioned and professor-like, so was your purple coat and waistcoat but I liked that getup better' she said.  
Something changed in Clara's look before she re-acknowledged Amy and Rory 'who are they?' she asked, a slightly pained look appeared in The Doctor's eyes as he looked at Amy and Rory 'they're who I travelled with and lost, before I met you twice' he said. Clara acknowledged the pained look the Doctor had taken on as he spoke 'how did you lose them?' she asked, he was silent for a couple of seconds as he breathed in 'an incident, with weeping angels in Manhattan in New York, I- we at the time thought we'd beaten and eluded them, but a survivor took them both and zapped them back to an earlier time period in Manhattan that was so scrambled, especially after bringing about a paradox during the time period, that I couldn't ever take the TARDIS back to that time, so they were lost to me, forever' he responded.  
Clara looked back at Amy and Rory then back at the Doctor 'well, there they are now, why don't you go and say hello?' she suggested, but the Doctor shook his head 'na, na, na I won't' he said calmly and dismissively. Clara gave him a bit of a sideways-questioning look 'you sure? This might be your one and only chance to see them again' she questioned 'yeah I'm sure, I can them from here they're just right there, I'm seeing them' the Doctor answered dismissively again, but more so this time with some resistance. Clara just looked at him before she said 'Doctor' but the Doctor stopped her 'Clara please, I'm fine, ok? It's fine, plus anyway some things are best left in the past' he said, Clara just keeping her gaze on him 'alright' she said and dropped it.  
All four Doctors looked at and gestured to each other before they stepped away from their companions for a while and gathered at one of the windows looking out into space.


	19. Chapt 18: We Saved Gallifrey

Everyone watched for a moment as their Doctor stepped away from them before they each gradually, one-by-one, looked to each other and gave the friendliest possible smile they each could manage, given the circumstances. Rose, Donna and Clara joined Amy and Rory and exchanged "hello's" with one another 'Donna' Donna said to Amy and Rory as she out her hand which Amy took and they both momentarily shook hands for a second 'Amy' said Amy 'I'm Rory' Rory said as he joined in on the introductions 'hi, I'm Clara' Clara said to both Donna and Amy and Rory 'hi Clara' Donna said to her, 'hi' both Amy and Rory said. They each then turned to Rose who had a slight look of uncertainty about her 'hi, you must be Rose, the Doctor- my Doctor talks about you all the time' Donna said to Rose who stood just at the edge of the group 'he does?' Rose said as her eyes widened a bit in surprise. 'What does he say about me?' Rose asked in a bit of a mixed tone of "o- kay, that's…interesting, what does he say?" that didn't quite match that of her curious wide-eyed look, Donna hesitated for a second as she quickly and carefully considered her words 'just…that he had a wonderful time travelling with you, and won't ever forget those times' she said keeping her tone calm and casual as well as assuring. This brought a bit of smile on Rose's features and she seemed to relax a bit and it was then that she fully joined the group and introduced herself to Amy and Rory and Clara who did the same with her before they began to talk about where they had each come from.

'So, Gallifrey is alive and well then' Eleven stated with a querying tone in his words to Twelve 'what **he** said before, it's still out there somewhere isn't it, even though we destroyed it to end the Time War, the way you responded when he mentioned it and brought it up' said Ten. Nine had a serious-questioning look on his features 'I'm having a hard time getting my head around it as well, what we did to end the Time War is what WE DID, yet like I just said' he said as he gestured to Ten 'you genuinely reacted and believed without hesitation, or a second thought, believe that Gallifrey is still alive, even though we **destroyed** it'. Twelve considered his response for a couple of seconds when and as he acknowledged the looks he was getting from each of his former selves 'yes, it is, from my point of view anyway and it's a long story as well, one that would take more time to explain than what we currently have' Twelve said before he looked out the window for a moment before he continued knowing that his own silence from that of three of himself standing next to him was an indication to keep going.  
Looking back at Ten and Eleven 'it hasn't happened for you two yet, evidently from where you're both at in your time streams' Twelve said as he looked in the direction of all of their companions, specifically to subtly gesture at Donna and Amy and Rory even though they were all so clustered together as they all met each other and said "hello". Twelve continued as he shifted his gaze to Nine 'I'm not quite sure about you though, it may or may not have happened for you yet' said Twelve 'what do you mean "it hasn't happened for me yet"?' Nine questioned. Twelve hesitated for brief moment 'it's not gone, we didn't destroy Gallifrey, it's just been…put elsewhere' Nine just looked at him before he turned away for a moment then looked back at him with a questioning squint '…it's strange…' he said, responding in a subtle tone that had Ten and Eleven slowly direct their looks to him.  
Nine slowly inhaled as he maintained his look towards Twelve 'as far as I know and am concerned we **destroyed** Gallifrey, yet **I** ' he said putting emphasis on the "I" 'will admit I've had strange dreams' now Twelve squinted back at him with curiosity and question 'strange dreams?... What about?' Twelve questioned. Nine inhaled again and his eyes wandered a bit before they settled to looking just to the right of Twelve as if he were in a trance 'they're always a bit hazy…really hazy…and somewhat distorted, but I'm with you two' Nine said before he looked at Ten and Eleven 'except you're…dressed a bit differently to what you are now' he said looking at Eleven whose eyes widened a bit at Nine's words 'oh, how so?' said Eleven. 'Shush just let him speak' Twelve to himself, 'I don't know, some purple coat and a waist coat maybe, anyway I'm in a castle looking for you two, you're with the one of us that we "don't talk about"' Nine said before he looked at each of his older selves who took on wide-eyed looks except for Twelve.  
'I- we meet Queen Elizabeth the First, at least I think it's her, it seems like her, anyway a wedding' he continued, pausing for a second after "wedding" and looking at his immediate future self who took a second and a bit to realise why 'what? Me? Blimey, really?' Ten said before looking at Eleven and Twelve with a "wow, that's something" look. 'The Black Archive' Nine said as he continued to recall and relay his "dreams" to himself 'the Black Archive?' both Ten and Eleven said simultaneously before they realised they'd, sort of…rudely interrupted 'sorry' said Ten 'continue' said Eleven. 'Then we're on Gallifrey, in the barn, about to detonate the moment…then…on some planet…the Eye of Orion' Nine said before he looked at his selves with a look in his eye 'all thirteen of us fly in and surround Gallifrey and put it in a pocket universe…at least that's what the plan seemed to be' he said before he looked at each of his older selves as they processed what he had just said, more so with Ten and Eleven who were both looking down as they acknowledged what they'd heard. 'we destroyed the planet though, that's how **I** remember it' said Nine 'us too' said Eleven, referring to himself and Ten, as he, Ten and Nine looked to Twelve for an explanation but who just looked at them without a word before settling his gaze on his youngest self with a raised brow which Nine noticed '…what?' he said 'it's interesting, the fact that you remember what "really" happened on a subconscious level in fragments' said Twelve, to which Nine gave a momentary raise of his brow as his gaze drifted as if to say "yeah…".  
All four of them then exchanged looks before Ten said 'so Gallifrey IS still out there…somewhere' Eleven followed up Ten's question with his own 'but where, do you have any idea where we put it?' Eleven asked. Twelve went over to the window and stood beside it as he looked out through it 'that's not something we had a lot of control over, little to none I should say' he said before he turned back to his selves 'what I can say is that it's in a pocket universe, that's all I know, nothing else to go on, not even any coordinates'. A moment passed before any of them said anything 'but, it is still out there, you just have look for it and find out where it is, yeah?' Ten said to clarify things 'yeah, I just don't have any leads, I don't even know where to begin to look' Twelve answered.  
Up to quarter of a minute passed as each Doctor stood in silent thought and consideration of what they'd just talked about and discussed before Nine, Ten and Eleven each joined their oldest self at the window, one by one, and they looked out through it into the depths of space beyond 'we've got our work cut out for us then' said Ten 'how exciting' Eleven said as his gaze took in the entire view of space. Nine just stood silently in thought as he pondered and considered everything _I'm not going to remember any of this, but it sounds like there are interesting times ahead…seriously though, Gallifrey is still out there?_ being among what he was thinking. Twelve looked at his youngest self for a moment then back out into space before he, as he was sure his younger selves were doing, pondered the future and the path ahead…


	20. Epilogue

The Doctor was just about to step back into his TARDIS behind Donna when he heard a soft voice behind him 'Doctor?' which made him stop and stiffen as knew the voice, surprise and slight shock in his eyes. Turning to the source of the voice he saw the one person he wanted so much to see yet the sight of her knotted his gut so much. Rose. Her stark brown eyes seemed to bore into him…that's what it felt like for the Doctor anyway having her eyes on him again after so long '…Rose' he said out loud yet silently in indication of his surprise and in acknowledgement of her 'hello Doctor' said Rose. They both stood in somewhat awkward silence for a couple of seconds looking at each other, the Doctor trying to think of something…anything to say _so, how's things going with me?_... _Where abouts have you just come from then? Before all this that is_ … _Some adventure we just had huh?_ With Rose probably pondering the same thing. 'Who's your new friend?' Rose asked breaking the silence, trying to keep her tone as casual and friendly as possible and not demanding in any way whatsoever to indicate any hint of jealousy…which she wasn't, not really…she WAS **just** interested to know…'Donna' the Doctor replied as he made sure to stay calm and not go red or blush from the feeling like he was trying to hide something from an "old ex". 'Ok' Rose said calmly which made the Doctor relax a bit and quietly let out a breath, both of which surprised him as he wasn't aware he had been holding his breath or that he had tensed in the last few seconds _god's sake Doctor relax she's just asking out of interest, she's not going to get angry or upset unless you insult her_ the Doctor thought to himself as he then forced himself to focus and breath…normally.  
Then came the question 'sorry I-…I just wanted to ask…how come I'm not traveling with you anymore? Did I…do something wrong? Or did…something happen to me?' Rose asked, the question surprised the Doctor in the sense that it was last question he expected to have to answer, and was reluctant to even do so. The Doctor's mind flashed back to the day in Torchwood Tower at Canary Wharf…in the control room with the rift open…Rose just barely hanging onto the lever by a few fingers.  
The beats of both the Doctor's hearts quickened and he knew his face had turned to that of sadness and guilt '…Doctor?' Rose said again, her voice breaking through the mental stream of memories in the Doctor's mind. Taking a breath the Doctor responded 'something-…happens to you…we become separated' when Rose opened her mouth to say something he quickly continued 'that's all I can say, I'm sorry, I can't tell you anything more than that' he said _god I WISH I could though, I REAALLLLY wish I could_ the Doctor thought as he felt the pain he was feeling inside begin to well up and start to overwhelm him which he fought and held back with every ounce of his will power and character. If weren't for the Laws of Time he might've done so.  
'Do you…miss me at all?' Rose asked 'or do I just become "another human you travelled with"?' surprised, as well as a bit shocked, by her question the Doctor quickly responded 'no, no no no of course not, why would you think and ask that?' he said. Rose opened her mouth again to say something, but hesitated before she pushed herself to keep going 'I just…I don't…seem to be with you anymore, I thought I would be, I was just wondering if there was a reason for that' she said. The Doctor was now having a hard time containing his emotions and he took another breath to steady himself 'there's not a moment that goes by when I'm thinking of and about you' he said, letting a couple of seconds pass before he said 'of course I miss you Rose, the things we did, what we saw…all of it, I won't forget any of it'.  
This brought about a small smile on Rose and she stepped forward and embraced the Doctor which surprised him, but after a few seconds he wrapped his arms tightly around her, but not too tight, and exhaled slowly as he relished every second of the hug. 'Are you alright?' Rose asked, the Doctor took another breath and exhaled again with a big smile 'yeah, I couldn't be better, this is how much I miss you' he replied, after a few seconds they separated and looked at each other 'so, quite a future I've got to look forward then' Rose said with a neutral look that was barely managing a smile 'oh you're in for some good times with me' the Doctor said as he briefly looked to the TARDIS that belonged to his former self.  
At the Doctor's words Rose managed to smile a bit more as she briefly forgot about what he said about them becoming separated in her future 'I'm looking forward to it' she said before she looked back at the Ninth Doctor's TARDIS then back at Ten 'anyway, I should go, be safe Doctor' she said before she turned away and went back to the other TARDIS. The Doctor watched her go as he said 'you too' to Rose looked back at him and said with another smile 'of course I will be, I'm with you after all' before she got to the doors of the other TARDIS and disappeared through them, after which the TARDIS made the usual hollow *thunk* before it dematerialised and disappeared. The Doctor watched his TARDIS go before he went back into his own. Seconds later it too made the *thunk* sound before disappeared from the spot, as did the TARDIS's of the Eleventh and Twelfth Doctors.

The End


End file.
